A Panther's Unforgettable Love
by The Unbelievable
Summary: She met him in the Feudal Era and watched him die by the hands of Naraku in the final battle. Friends both old and new couldn't help her for he lose, so her mother sends her to her cousin Uryu's house. Then she meets the Espada. GrimmKag 'M' for language
1. Chapter 1

**I was reading Inuyasha/ Bleach crossovers and was a little disappointed that Grimmjow (my fave Espada) did not have that many. And while I was reading some stories, there was a knock on my door and a plot bunny rushed in before I could stop it. Now here's the story it talked me into writing, so I hope u enjoy it.**

**Disclaimer: Do not own Bleach or Inuyasha**

**Warnings: swearing, violence, gore (probably), explicit content (including the occasional naked Grimmjow XD (Bad timing is all that needs to be said)), and out of character-ness**

**Pairings: GrimmKag, InuKik, MirSan, RenRuki, IchiHime**

**Summary: After a fight with Inuyasha, Kagome stormed off for some alone time to calm herself down. While she was all alone, she was attacked by a demon with shards of the Shikon. Unable to completely defend herself, a territorial panther youkai came to her rescue, triggering a string of events that they did not expect or plan to happen.**

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Kagome was not happy. Not one bit. All she wanted to do was go home, attend a few days of school so she could catch up and attempt to no fail the year, restock on certain foods, and let her family know she was okay. Inuyasha, on the other hand, was completely against it before bringing Kikyo into the argument.

"Kikyo would never leave when we still have shards and Naraku to hunt!"

After a few sits, Kagome walked off with her quiver and the few arrows she had left, telling the others she would be back in a while. Hopefully when she returned, Inuyasha would let her leave. Though the chances of that were slim. He was always reluctant to let anyone in their group leave, even if it was an emergency. It was like he had abandonment issues.

Stopping in her tracks, she sighed slightly. He probably did. After all, he was half of two different worlds, and neither world truly accepted him for who he was, Inuyasha. As far as she knew, only Sango, Miroku, Shippo, Kirara, and herself accepted him. Even Kikyo didn't accept him completely since she wanted him to use the jewel to become human instead of letting him remain the way he was. His pride would never allow him to admit it, but he was scared that the only friends he ever had would leave him and never come back.

He probably only brought Kikyo into the arguments because he thought it would make her stay and show she was better than Kikyo, though she never would be to him. He would always choose Kikyo over Kagome. The original was better than the copy. Still, it wasn't fair for him to bring his undead ex into the argument! It just wasn't!

She sighed once more before turning around and starting to head back until something shot at her senses. 'A Shikon shard!' she exclaimed to herself as he looked over his shoulder. 'And it's close! I can't make it back to the others before it catches me.'

The demon broke through the trees as she notched an arrow and quickly fired it. Maybe it would back off some or the shot would slow it down. The arrow grazed the large boar demon's shoulder, burning some of the flesh and causing the creature to shriek out loudly before charging at her once again. She didn't have time to notch another arrow before the boar tackled her. It was enough to nearly break her ribs and slammed her into a tree.

"Hand me the shards of the Shikon No Tama if you wish to live, wench," the boar commanded.

"Like I'll believe that!" Kagome spat at the demon as she gingerly got back to her feet and notched another arrow. When she released it, the boar dodged and charged her way once more, but was stopped mid-charge by a blue and silver blur.

The boar fell apart before the blur stopped in front of her to reveal a tall male demon with what looked like silver plating for armor around him, only bare on his chest and face. His legs were shaped like a cat's and he had black paws for feet. Both his hands were black as well with thin claws at the tip of each digit. His aqua blue hair fell to his lower back as his cat ears were lowered slightly like he wasn't too sure about her. The tip of his tail twitched slightly before he turned and went back to the boar.

"Thank you," Kagome suddenly said, making the panther demon stop in his tracks.

"I didn't do it to save you," he stated. "This sorry excuse for a demon was trespassing in my territory."

"Still, thank you," she repeated.

The demon turned to look at her with his azure eyes. "You're a strange priestess," he commented. "Most would kill any demon they come across and here you are thanking me, a demon."

"I don't think all demons deserve to die because of what they are," Kagome said. "I'll only kill demon if they're a threat to me and my loved ones or the innocent."

The panther scoffed. "You're a strange one," he stated as the silver plating covering his entire body unwrapped itself from him while his hair shrunk until it was short and spiked. His ears faded until they were human ears as his tail retracted until it was gone. Once the armor covering his body was gone, he was only dressed in dark blue hakamas as an open white haori with missing sleeves. His claws shrunk a little bit as the black on his hands lightened until they were tan and his feet went back to human-like bare feet.

Kagome was hesitant for a moment before asking, "You're not after the shards, are you?"

Another scoff escaped the demon. "If I was, I'd have taken them from this pile of wasted flesh and your dead hands," he replied. "I'm not interested in using something else to increase my own power. If I'm gonna get stronger, I'll do it myself. Not with a broken stone." He struck his hand into the boar's forehead before pulling it out and holding his bloody fist out to Kagome, opening his fingers to show the Shikon shards that the boar once had in its possession. "Go ahead and take them. I don't want them."

After a few wary steps to the panther demon, Kagome took them from his palm, purifying them once she touched them. "Thanks," she said.

"Whatever, priestess," was all he said before he turned to walk off.

"My name's Higurashi Kagome," she corrected automatically before the demon stopped and she held her breath.

"Jaggarjaques Grimmjow," he stated before jumping into the trees and disappearing seconds before the rest of the gang arrived.

"Kagome!" Shippo cried out. "Are you okay?! We heard a bunch of noises and got so worried!"

"I'm fine," Kagome replied. "Just a little sore. It threw me into a tree."

"Let me take a look, Kagome," Sango practically ordered, lightly pressing her fingertips at Kagome's back and ribs. Kagome hissed slightly in pain before the demon-slayer pulled back. "I think we should wrap this for now and head back to Kaede's so she can take a closer look. She should have the right herbs for this. We're not that far away, anyway."

"How the hell did you take down a demon this size by yourself?" Inuyasha suddenly asked before sniffing at the dead boar and pulling back in disgust. "Ugh! It smells like a feline or something."

"A panther demon saved me," Kagome replied. "He killed the boar, gave me the jewel shards, and left."

"Doesn't smell like he's too far away," Inuyasha growled, his hand on the tilt of his Tetsusaiga.

"Well he did say this was his territory," Kagome pointed out.

"Then why didn't he kill you?" Inuyasha asked. "Male panther demons would kill anyone invading their territory. And you being a priestess doesn't exactly put you on his 'leave alone' list."

Kagome shrugged before something fell in front of her face and landed on the ground between her feet. All five pairs of eyes went to the small leather bag on the ground before Sango bent down and picked it up. She opened it and dumped the contents into her hands before her eyes grew wide. It was a flower with white leaves and dark purple petals that faded into bright lavender closer to the tip.

"I've heard about these flowers," Sango said in a breathless voice. "But I've never seen one."

"What kind is it?" Kagome asked in curiosity.

"They're so rare that no one's given them a proper name," someone replied. "I'm actually surprised that you survived that pig slamming you into a tree, but I doubt you got away uninjured. That only grows around here, but I'm letting you have one for your injuries."

"Who's there?!" Inuyasha yelled out, ready to draw his sword.

"Why should I tell you, half-breed?" the voice mocked. "You're in my territory, not the other way around."

"Show yourself, then!" Inuyasha challenged.

"Sit!" Kagome exclaimed before Inuyasha fell to the ground. She inhaled deeply before looking up to the canopy. "Thank you, Grimmjow."

"I'd help out again if I get to see that every time," Grimmjow chuckled, his voice fading away as if he was leaving.

Inuyasha just continued to growl, even when the subjugation let him get up. "Bastard," he growled under his breath. "And what the hell was that for, bitch?!"

"He saved my life then gave us this flower for my injuries and you were being rude on his territory," Kagome pointed out with a huff. "You need to learn some manners." She ignored his growling as she turned her attention to Sango. "So what's this flower for?"

"Well if you crush it until the leaves and petals are powder with only the juice of the plant for moisture and place it directly onto your skin over an injured part," Sango explained, "your body absorbs it and it would heal away any bruise and keep fighting off infections in an injury until your body doesn't need it anymore. But it has to be completely by itself. If you add anything with it, even a drop of water, it could turn into a deadly poison that would shut down everything in your body until you die. We can probably just use one leaf and one petal for your injuries and save the rest in case of an emergency. Who knows. Maybe we could give it to Keade in case she needs it in the village."

"But Sango," Miroku spoke up. "It's near impossible to fix it just by itself. Even if you use a stone to crush it, the stones will leave something behind and it would get into the salve."

"I know," Sango sighed. "That's why most people would consider it more deadly than useful."

Kagome thought for a moment before snapping her fingers once and saying, "I have some paper in my backpack. If we put it in between two sheet of paper and crush it, then there won't be anything but the juice and the powdered leaf and petal. The paper may absorb some juice, but that's the only thing I can think of."

"It's worth a shot," Sango said, putting the flower back into the bag. "I wonder, though. He said it only grows around here. What is here that the flower needs to grow that isn't anywhere else?"

"Who cares?!" Inuyasha scoffed. "Let's just go. And leave that plant alone. We'll treat Kagome our way."

"Inuyasha, this flower could heal Kagome by tomorrow afternoon!" Shippo exclaimed.

"Shippo, Inuyasha has a point," Miroku calmly said, placing a hand on the kit's head. "We don't know how to prepare it properly without something else getting mixed in. This paper idea of Lady Kagome's may work, but we don't know for sure. It would be best not to test it, just in case. We should head back for Lady Kaede's village and let her handle this."

"Okay," Shippo whined lowly as they headed back to their campsite, Kagome riding on Kirara with Sango so she wouldn't be jostled so much.

**1234567987654321**

Grimmjow watched them leave before following after them. He didn't know why, but something in him was telling him to protect the priestess. She was just a human girl! What was so important about her and why did _he_ need to protect her? He had his entire territory to look after and protect. Still, he wasn't one to ignore his instincts. He never was.

Like with his sister. She tried to bring him into her plot to resurrect that Panther Lord using the Western Taiyoukai's sword and Shikon shards. His instincts told him to refuse and he did, glad he did so since almost all of them were killed by the Panther Lord. He wasn't sure where his sister was now, or if she was even alive.

He stopped on a branch when he noticed the group he was following slowing down and stopping at a small campsite with a burned out fire and a few of their items. The large cat probably knew he was there, especially since her red eyes glanced his direction every now and again. The demon slayer dismounted the large cat demon before helping the priestess off and going over to a large yellow bag and digging around in it. She pulled out a white metal box and went back over to the priestess, along with a blanket that the girl wrapped around herself.

The cat demon curled around the two, blocking both woman from the view of the two males (Grimmjow noticed the monk seemed disappointed in the fact that all he could see were their heads) as she lifted the blanket up a bit while the priestess folded her white clothing on her lap. The red eyes of the cat looked his way before he turned around and let them have their privacy to help the girl.

Why they weren't using the flower was beyond him. It wasn't as deadly as they thought it was. Water or other juices of healing herbs wouldn't make it a poison. Actually, they would boost its healing ability. True the plant could be deadly, but only when mixed with other poisonous plants or when consumed. Human superstition really was annoying at times.

"I'm glad you're okay, Kagome," his ears picked up the voice of the demon slayer. "I'll admit, I'm surprised you met a male panther youkai and he let you go. I'm even more surprised he let you go with the shards!"

"He said that if he wanted to get more powerful, he would do it himself," the priestess said in a calm voice. "Are panther youkai really that dangerous? I mean, we've only met those few resurrecting their master or lord or whatever before."

So they met his sister and her small pack.

"They were mild compared to other panther youkai," the demon slayer stated. "Panther youkai, mostly the males, are very dangerous and would kill anything whenever they feel like it. I'm amazed he let us get away when he was just above us."

"Maybe he's one of the nicer panthers," the girl suggested.

"There's no such thing as a nice panther youkai," the half-breed snapped. "They're the kind of bastards that play with your mind. They're helping you one minute so the moment you turn your back on them, they'll run their claws straight through your heart."

"Now, now, Inuyasha," the monk interjected. "I did not sense any evil intent towards any of us from… what was his name, Lady Kagome?"

"Grimmjow," Kagome replied. "I didn't get the feeling he was evil, either."

"We didn't see him, but since he left us alone, maybe he wasn't interested in killing us at all," the slayer commented. "Okay, Kagome. I've finished wrapping you up. And thank you, Kirara, for blocking us from the monk's view."

"Sango, do you honestly believe that I would do such a thing while you treat Lady Kagome's wounds?" the monk whined.

"You try to spy on us when we're bathing in the hot spring," the miko pointed out.

"Hentai houshi," the slayer growled under her breath.

Grimmjow smirked to himself as he leaned against the tree trunk, ignoring the pathetic squabble between the monk and slayer. He had to admit, humans were entertaining at times. His smirk fell into a scowl as he thought back to the boar. He knew a certain praying mantis that would definitely give him a hard time since he killed his servant. Actually, now that he thought about it, that didn't really even seem to actually be Nnoitra's boar. Oh well. If it was, he'd know by morning. Tesla sure as hell knew better than to come into his territory, knew better than to keep Shikon shards from Nnoitra, and never behaved like that. Oh well. Again, if it was Tesla, he's know by morning because of a short-tempered mantis.

He turned to look over his shoulder when he heard the small pack saying their 'good nights' before going to their own spots to rest for the night. The half-breed seemed to just place himself on a branch and stayed there, eyes wide open while everyone else went to sleep. He knew that the mutt would not even notice if he was close by. This was his territory and his scent was everywhere. He could be standing right behind him and the dog wouldn't know it.

A few short leaps through the branches found Grimmjow across from the small camp, the miko in plain sight, almost. She was wrapped up in a strange bed that wrapped around her like a cocoon. The fox child was in the cocoon with her, burying himself into her arms that were around him while trying to get closer to her at the same time. He definitely had to admit, the miko was a strange one. Here she was, holding only a young demon like he was her own kitten. Around her were two other demons killers, a monk and a slayer, yet they behaved as if they were true family, even with the half-breed. It confused him.

He leaned against the tree with one leg propped up with his arm on it and the other arm in his lap while the other leg dangled off the branch as he continued to study the priestess. Her clothing was strange, he had to admit. Her scent was delicious, a mixture of sakura blossoms as well as fresh dawn rain. She obviously thought different than anyone else he ever saw.

Unique. That would probably be the right word for her. And quite beautiful, he had to admit. For a human. Long black hair the reached to her lower back and deep blue eyes that told everything about her, or almost everything. She had nice legs, long and muscled enough to last for quite a run. Though why she wore something that showed her legs while wearing a shirt that covered her arms and everything else was beyond him. And though the shirt was loose, he could tell she had plump breasts that could nurse litter after litter.

As far as he could tell about her personality, she was fearless and determined while believing to give everybody she met a chance. She didn't hold species against anyone, which was rare in humans. She was also protective, if her hold on the kitsune child was anything to go by, and hated rudeness, judging by her display of power over the hanyou earlier. He could tell she was also quite powerful, though not fully trained in her abilities. She could be quite the warrior priestess if trained properly.

A small sigh escaped him as he tilted his head back and stared at the starry sky above. He was confused. He believed in the higher powers and wondered why they were making his instincts tell him to protect the miko. What was so special about her? Then he thought back to her purifying the shards he gave her just by touching them. Was she the Shikon Guardian?

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**This will b my first straight fiction, so please b gentle and tell me how u feel about it. K? Ok. Plz review! And flames will b used 2 keep my house warm and 2 make smores!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Glad ppl liked the first chapter, now here's another! And yes, I am bringing in the occasional (future) Espada, at least the ones that have animal-like qualities so I can make them demons. Every1 else…maybe. There will b a bit of a time skip, but I am trying here. Now enjoy! ^^**

**Oh, b4 I forget. I got a review that said 'boo, you suck noob' or sumthing along those lines and all I gotta say to that is 'you're a freaking idiot and didn't even need to read the story. You probably do that to every story u read just to make yourself feel better becuz u stories suck so hard, no one wants to add them to their faves, alert, or add u to either. U'r just an attention-seeking asshole trying to tear others down to make yourself feel better when your stories suck ass.' Sorry everyone else, but I got short temper**

**Now that I got that out of my system, here u go! a new chapter!**

**Disclaimer: No, I do not own Bleach or Inuyasha.**

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His territory was large, which he was proud of. The larger the territory, the more powerful the one who owns the piece of land is. He battled demon after demon for their lands and added them to his, creating a territory that wolves would be jealous of. True there were patches in it that weren't his, (those patches generally were filled with humans) but he acted more as a landlord over those parts he didn't own since his territory surrounded those patches. He could go into these patches whenever he wanted to remind other residents who was in charge.

So he was not surprised when he repeatedly found the group on his land. It was vast, after all. He kept an eye on them to make sure they didn't do anything that he wouldn't like. What did surprise him was that they stopped in one of the villages that were in one of the patches of his land. He could go there if he wanted to, but he hated being surrounded by humans. He just watched from a distance.

The human girl proved to be more and more intriguing. She treated all the children in the village as her own, playing games with them or taking care of them when they got hurt. She ignored the pain he knew she felt in favor to keep the young happy and content. Strange female indeed. Though when night fell, he felt that something was going to happen. Whether it was good or bad, he didn't know.

Soft glowing creatures entered his line of vision as the scent of earth and death assaulted his nose, forcing him to cover it so he couldn't smell a thing. His eyes looked around for a moment before spotting a priestess that almost looked like Kagome, but her hair was long and tied in a ponytail and her face was impassive. Actually, her face almost reminded him of a certain bat of despair.

He glanced towards the village the new miko was staring at before the half-breed left the hut where he and his pride rested and headed towards the reeking priestess. Once she saw he was heading her way, she turned and left, as if she knew he would follow her. Unsurprisingly, the half-breed did and Grimmjow just scoffed in annoyance. It disgusted him that the king of the pride left to go rut with some undead wench while leaving the rest to defend themselves. They could probably handle themselves just fine, but that wasn't the point!

His eyes shot back towards the hut where the half-breed emerged when he saw movement, startled to find the younger priestess coming out with her bow and arrows. He sighed slightly. This won't end well. He could tell that even if she got angry at him, the miko did care for the hanyou. A lot.

As she ran into the forest, Grimmjow followed after her at a safe distance away, just to be sure no demon tried to attack her while the half-breed was occupied with someone that made a cat's nose burn. How a half-dog could handle it, he didn't know and could care less. He suspected where the young miko would go and just knew that she would probably do something drastic. She seemed to do such things from what he'd seen of her so far.

He stopped a few branches away from the female that watched the scene in front of her from behind a tree. He could already smell the salty tears that threatened to spill from her eyes as the half-breed took the undead into his arms and promised to go to Hell with her. Grimmjow scoffed once again. Who the hell was insane enough to go to Hell _willingly_ with an undead wench that had eyes full or hate and malice? Obviously the moron.

A sharp inhale brought his attention to the young miko before she snapped around and ran off once more. With a roll of his eyes, he followed after her, though not sure why he was. He just felt like he should. The girl broke into a clearing that had an empty well covered with vines in the middle of it. She sat on the ledge before throwing her legs over and pushed herself off.

Shocked by the sudden action, he rushed over and grabbed her wrist before pulling her out and placing her on the grass. "What the hell are you doing?! Are you trying to commit suicide over that half-breed?!" he growled at her.

**12345678987654321**

Seeing Inuyasha with Kikyo always did hurt, but this time it hurt more than ever. He told Kikyo he loved her more than anyone and would go to Hell with her as soon as they killed Naraku. Why would he say something like that after he told her that he loved her instead of Kikyo?! The bastard!

She broke from the trees and headed towards the well, sitting on it before swinging her legs over the edge and pushing herself in to go home. The well was just starting to light up with its magic when a clawed hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her out before dropping her on grassy ground.

"What the hell are you doing?!" she heard someone snap at her. "Are you trying to commit suicide over that half-breed?!"

Surprised, she looked up to see Grimmjow in front of her with an annoyed look on his face. "What are you doing here?" she asked him.

"My territory surrounds that village, now answer my question," he growled at her with his arms crossed over his chest.

A soft sigh escaped her as she got to her feet. "I wasn't committing suicide, I was going home!" she told him.

His eyebrow rose slightly as his head tilted in confusion. "You live in a well?" he asked. Kagome couldn't help it. The confusion in his tone mixed with disbelief and the way he was looking at her like she was crazy. She couldn't take it anymore and broke down laughing. "What's so fucking funny?!"

"I'm sorry!" she managed to say through her laughs. "But that was just too funny!" She was glad he gave her a few minutes to calm herself down before looking at him again to see he was still looking at her like she was crazy. "I don't live in a well," she said. "It's a portal to my real home."

Grimmjow shrugged slightly. He's probably heard stranger things. "Well," he said with a small shrug of his shoulder, "I suppose it kind of makes sense. I mean, I know a bat that runs around through shadows. So not the strangest thing I've heard. You spelled it?"

"Not really," Kagome replied, rubbing the back of her head. "I was kind of grabbed by another demon and dragged into it."

"Huh," he scoffed, staring at the well curiously.

There was a brief silence before Kagome broke it. "How'd you know?"

"Know what?" he asked.

"That Inuyasha was the reason why I was trying to jump into the well?"

"I've been watching," he bluntly replied, slipping his hands into his pockets.

"Why?"

He shrugged. "Don't know. Just was." He glanced back at her. "You know, running only shows how weak you are."

Kagome huffed as she glared at him.

"I'm just saying," he said uncaringly, not affected by her attitude. "Running every time you see something you don't like never solves anything. It only proves that you're too weak to handle it. If you stand your ground and just accept what happens happened, then you're showing that you're stronger than what others believe."

She stared at him with wide eyes before tilting her head downward. He was right. Running away from her problems didn't solve them and only made her look weak and useless. No matter how much it hurt, she couldn't run away. She couldn't let it bother her. Still, she probably couldn't accept Inuyasha with Kikyo, she would do as Grimmjow said and stand her ground and act like it didn't bother her.

"Getting it?" his voice broke from her thoughts.

With a nod of her head, she looked back up at the panther demon, who was looking at the trees.

"That half-breed finally figured out you were there and is heading this way," he stated before grinning a shit-eating grin. "Wanna mess with his mind a little?"

Kagome giggled slightly. "What do you have in mind?" she asked before he suddenly picked her up and leapt into the trees moments before Inuyasha tore into the clearing and headed towards the well. He suddenly stopped and sniffed the air a little bit before dropping to the ground and sniffing some more.

Grimmjow shook his head in disbelief. "He actually does that?" he asked before Kagome nodded.

"How do you know he won't find us?" she asked him.

"I leapt from that spot to here, so my scent isn't on the ground for him to follow or to give him a general direction," Grimmjow replied, sitting on the branch before placing Kagome on his legs. "Also, we're downwind, so he can't catch my scent over here. If the wind shifts, then we'll have to move if we wanna keep playing with his mind."

"This is actually kind of fun, so why not?" Kagome admitted as Inuyasha spun around in his spot, yelling out her name.

"I never understand why others do that," Grimmjow grumbled before Kagome looked at him curiously. "Someone's in danger or some kind of trouble and all anyone else can think of doing is yelling that person's name instead of going into action. It's stupid. Help, don't yell out names!"

Kagome giggled again. She had to admit, Grimmjow made good points and was kind of funny. He was also nicer to her than Inuyasha ever was, even though this was their second meeting. Even more strange, she felt safer with him than being surrounded by all of her friends.

He suddenly shifted and picked her up once more before moving to a different tree that surrounded the clearing. She saw Inuyasha land on the branch they were on previously occupying before he growled and ran back to the village, probably to get the others.

"Haven't had this much fun since my last fight with Ulquiorra," Grimmjow commented. "Well, do you want to go back to play with his head some more or play cat and mouse for a while."

"I really don't want to worry anyone," Kagome replied with a small sigh. Inuyasha would be infuriated as soon as he learned it was a game. Who knew what Miroku's reaction would be. Sango would give her a lecture and who knew what else. And Shippo would be crying with worry. She suddenly snapped her fingers. "Hey, Grimmjow! Why don't you travel with us?"

Grimmjow fell silent. There was a chance they would mostly stay close to his territory, if not in it most of the time, so no other demon would try to play dumb and claim his land with him still so close. But he was normally a loner. He occasionally met with Ulquiorra, Nnoitra (with Tesla), Nel, and few others, but he was mostly a loner.

"I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to," Kagome quickly said. "If you'd rather be on your own, okay. That's fine. I won't ask again. I just thought I'd ask, you know-"

"You talk a lot," Grimmjow interrupted her. "I suppose I could for a while. I'll need to go back to my territory every now and then to make sure no one moved in trying to take it from me. But I think I can manage."

Kagome grinned at him before wrapping her arms around his neck. "I'm glad to hear that!" she exclaimed.

Grimmjow blushed slightly, barely noticeable, but enough for him to know he was blushing and attempted to will the blush away. This wasn't like him! And he just knew that if Nnoitra was around and saw this, he would never hear the end of it.

She released him, noticing Grimmjow went stiff at her hug. He was probably not used to such contact. "Sorry," she murmured before the panther youkai leapt to the ground and placed her on her feet. "Come on! Let's go tell everyone!" Grimmjow rolled his eyes, muttering about hating to be surrounded by humans under his breath. Kagome giggled at him, but ignored his complaints. "We can call this playing with Inuyasha's mind a little more." The panther seemed to perk up a little bit, if his grin was anything to go by.

He suddenly picked her up once again before rushing through the forest and slowing to a stop once they were at the outlines of the village. "I think I'm gonna enjoy playing with his mind," he commented as he placed her down once again.

Kagome giggled again as she led the way into the village towards Kaede's hut. He stayed right next to her the entire walk and nearly jumped out of his skin when they heard a sudden yell from inside the large hut in front of them.

"I bet you were with Kikyo again!" the young voice Kagome instantly recognized as Shippo exclaimed. "And Kagome probably saw you and now she's never coming back!" He started to cry loudly before a sound similar to a punch was heard. "Ow! You bastard!" He continued to cry.

"Inuyasha!" Sango's voice snapped. "Don't hit Shippo just because he's stating the obvious!"

"Happens a lot?" Grimmjow asked, looking at Kagome from the corner of his eyes.

"Yeah, and I hate it every time he takes his anger out on Shippo," she replied before inhaling deeply and yelling out, "Sit!"

A thud and groan of pain was heard inside before a little blur shot from the hut and collided into Kagome's chest. "Kagome!" Shippo cried. "I thought the baka made you go away for good!"

Kagome gently shushed him, reassuring that she would never leave for good just because of Inuyasha. The interaction still amazed Grimmjow. Not many humans would take in a demon child and a demon child wouldn't truly accept a human as a parent. Yet here were these two, acting like mother and son. He was sure even the 'emotionless' Ulquiorra would be amazed at the sight.

The demon slayer and monk came out at a calm pace as Kagome calmed down the sniffling kit in her arms. "Hey, guys," Kagome greeted with a smile. "Sorry if I worried anyone."

"It's okay, Kagome," Sango said with a nod of her head. "Just don't do it again."

The kit stopped sniffling before noticing the male demon by Kagome. He tugged on her shirt before asking, "Who's he?"

"Oh!" Kagome suddenly exclaimed. "Guys, this is Grimmjow. Grimmjow, this is Sango and Miroku, and this little guy is Shippo. Inuyasha's probably still in there waiting for the 'sit'," another thud was heard, "to wear off."

"Stop saying that, bitch!" Inuyasha yelled from inside.

"Sit!" Kagome yelled. "My name is Kagome! And don't hit Shippo, even when I'm gone! I'll hear about it!"

"Why does the name Grimmjow sound so familiar?" Sango asked, looking over at Miroku.

"It does sound familiar, doesn't it?" the monk said, placing a finger on his chin.

Shippo stared at Grimmjow for a moment before jumping out of Kagome's arms and onto the panther demon's shoulder. "You're the one who saved Kagome from that boar demon and gave us the healing flower, aren't you?" he asked before Grimmjow nodded. Shippo smiled brightly. "Thank you for both!"

Grimmjow stared at him in shock. It's one thing hearing thanks from the person you help, but hearing thanks from someone you didn't help for helping the person that was helped was different. This little pack would definitely be interesting to be around for a while.

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It was almost needless to say that Inuyasha did not appreciate Grimmjow joining the group since they barely knew him, and he was absolutely pissed that Kagome's 'disappearance' that he thought was a demon kidnapping her was just a game. Grimmjow couldn't help but tell him that.

Shippo already mentally declared he liked Grimmjow more than Inuyasha after a week of traveling with the panther. He never hit him or yelled at him. If Shippo was upset about something, he either went to Kagome, Sango, or Grimmjow. Kagome and Sango comforted him, but Grimmjow motivated him to get stronger. Inuyasha normally insulted him.

In his mind, Shippo already declared Kagome as his new mother, Sango as his aunt, but he never figured who he could call his new father. Miroku was more of an uncle, so that would only leave Inuyasha, but he didn't like the way he treated his adopted mother and the others. He wasn't a suitable mate for his mother and Shippo knew it. He always ran off during the nights to see Kikyo when she was around instead of thinking about Kagome's reaction to it and staying put. Then Grimmjow came into the picture and Shippo liked how Grimmjow treated his mother and everyone else. Maybe he could be his new father.

Sango wasn't completely sure about Grimmjow, seeing as he was a panther demon and most panthers were known to be solitary as well as vicious. He behaved well when around the group, but they had seen him fight. There was a bear demon with a Shikon shard that surprisingly didn't get affected greatly by Tetsusaiga. Grimmjow scoffed at Inuyasha before charging in and slicing through the bear demon like it was nothing. Inuyasha seethed for a few hours after that.

She was wary of him, but he seemed gentle enough around them. He treated Shippo like a young man instead of a child and encouraged him to do better. He did it with Kagome also. He did more for those two than they themselves did. They always comforted the two and told them that nothing was their fault. Yet here was Grimmjow pointing stuff out and encouraging them to do better. Sango noticed that since Grimmjow joined, Kagome and Shippo both seemed to do better in fights.

Miroku thought Grimmjow was pleasant to be around. He and Inuyasha got into amusing arguments. Also, the panther didn't try insulting everyone every chance he got. He was more calm and collected than Inuyasha was, especially on the battlefield, even if he didn't look it at first sight. Grimmjow was a natural born warrior. He knew what to expect in battle and what not to expect. More times than once, Grimmjow managed to kill a demon in one attack after countless furious attacks from Inuyasha did little to nothing.

The monk did like having Grimmjow around, but he knew that the panther could turn on them at any second and hoped he never did. They wouldn't be able to do much against him, though he doubted Grimmjow would try to kill them. He seemed pretty attached to Kagome and hurting them would hurt Kagome.

Kagome enjoyed having Grimmjow around. He called her by her name instead of name-calling. He treated her with respect. And if she got tired, he would make her sit down and rest, completely ignoring Inuyasha's shouting. He did snap at him once, though. "If you're really an alpha, you should think about your pack instead of your battles!" he told him. "If they're tired, then they're too weak to defend themselves. So shut the hell up and let them rest." It started an argument between the two, but Grimmjow eventually won it and everyone got to rest.

Though he was serious, Grimmjow was funny at times. He played with Shippo quite a bit, and was both delicate and rough with him at the same time. They wrestled sometimes, but Grimmjow wasn't rough enough to hurt Shippo. He helped Sango stay in top shape with her katana, seeing as he had one as well. He was kind of cautious around Miroku, but that was to be expected since they were demon and monk. With Inuyasha…they mostly argued.

Inuyasha hated the panther with a passion. He wanted him out of his pack. He was dominant and he was the leader! No one every challenged him! Then this cat showed up and kept setting up challenge after challenge, showing he was a better leader from his words to his battles. He'd rather deal with the flea-bitten wolf than this feline! At least he never touched his ramen.

Grimmjow was actually having the time of his life. He got to annoy the half-breed, fight with a demon-slayer without getting killed or killing the slayer, got to understand a little more about monks, played with a fox kit that he was starting to consider his own cub (though he would never admit it out loud), and was still amazed by the priestess.

He and Sango became quick sparring partners since neither had to worry about the other's katana breaking their own. Miroku was calm, though perverted at times. He had to drag him from hot springs when the girls bathed before he got a peak. Shippo would sometimes ride on his shoulder and show him new tricks he made up, like he was trying to make him proud. He admitted that he was whenever the kit came out with a new trick that would both confuse and hurt the enemy.

Kagome, though, he liked being around the most. She was kind and made sure to treat everyone equally, though fierce and determined when in either a battle or an argument with the half-breed. He didn't like the mutt. And he made it loud and clear. The half-breed wasn't fit to be king. He treated his pride like Nnoitra treats Tesla. He was also confusing. The miko made excellent food, yet he only wanted the strange tasting noodles. He preferred the grilled fish or anything else Kagome was able to make up. Every now and again, Grimmjow would go out and hunt for fresh meat to cook. Sango cooked sometimes, but he liked Kagome's better. Her way was just unique.

He had never really been part of a pride, seeing as he was a solitary species, but he had to admit he kind of enjoyed being around this pride. Others drove him crazy, like his sister's. He still shivered whenever he thought of that flower panther that kept flirting with him every chance she got.

"Hey, how big is your territory?" Shippo suddenly asked the panther.

"Large enough," he replied with a shrug of his shoulder. "I would make it larger, but Nnoitra's territory circles mine just like Ulquiorra's circles his. I can't beat either of them."

"Who are Nnoitra and Ulquiorra?" Kagome asked.

Grimmjow just mentally shook his head. "Nnoitra's a mantis demon with a boar demon for a servant. He's a down right ass. Also permanently in a fighting frenzy. If he doesn't know you, he will try to fight and kill you if he finds you to be powerful enough. If he does know you, hope you're on his good side."

"You can't beat a mantis?" Inuyasha mocked.

"Fine. You have a go at him. Let's see how long you last."

"How powerful is he?" Miroku asked.

"Well you know how the bigger the mantis, the more powerful it is?" Grimmjow said before Sango and Miroku nodded. "Nnoitra has a human form."

"Wow!" Shippo commented in awe. "He's powerful!"

"What do you mean?" the miko asked.

"Generally, the bigger the mantis, the stronger it is," Sango replied. "But if a mantis demon has a human form, it's means they're truly powerful. We can exactly have mantis demon the size of mountains running around, after all. When they get close to that size, they eventually gain a human form."

"What about this Ulquiorra, then?" Miroku broke in.

"He's a bat demon always drowning in his own despair," Grimmjow scoffed with a roll of his eyes. "His territory is wrapped around Nnoitra's. You would know if you ever go through it since it has more shadows than one would deem normal. He acts like he doesn't have emotions and just by looking at him, you would really think he doesn't. He kind of walks around as half bat-half human. Don't let it fool you, though. He's stronger than Nnoitra."

"You got quite a few friends, huh?" Kagome chirped.

Grimmjow shrugged. "Wouldn't exactly call them friends," he stated gruffly. "More like sparring partners."

"Would we run into them?" Shippo cautiously asked.

"Nnoitra…maybe," Grimmjow replied with a shrug of his shoulder. "If we keep going at this pace, we'll be in his part of the forest by midday tomorrow. If we don't run into him, we'll run into Tesla. He isn't as bad as Nnoitra, though."

"Well even if he does try to pick a fight, we'll just kill him and keep going," Inuyasha scoffed.

"You're not talking about Tesla, are you?" Grimmjow chuckled. "Killing Tesla's a bad move. Everyone in the forest knows he's Nnoitra's. And Nnoitra is very protective of what's his, even if he doesn't act like it. Kill Tesla, you've pissed off Nnoitra and he would really kill you. But if you're talking about Nnoitra, good luck with that because he'll slice you to pieces."

"I doubt that!" the half-demon snorted.

"I don't," Grimmjow argued.

"That confidence it going to get you in trouble, Inuyasha," Kagome pointed out.

"Says who?" Inuyasha gruffly asked.

"Says-"

"Grimmjow!" someone yelled out before the group turned to look at who it was. "You're traveling in a pack?!"

* * *

**So who is it? Someone Grimmjow mentioned or another future Espada I may just bring in? Will it even be an Espada? Review and I shall update sooner for you to find out! I'm so evil.**

**Oh, and someone mentioned that when souls become Hollows, they don't remember anything from their pasts and they don't really look like their selves from when they were alive. Deal with it, it's fanfiction. Crap happens. I plan on having these guys remember Kagome at least.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Are you serious? Only MangaFreak3 guessed? And got it right! Well cyber cookie for that person!! Honestly, no one else guessed or told me who they guessed I thought seeing how everyone guessed would be fun and you guys ruined it for me. O well! ^^**

**I don't understand Adult Nel's way of thinking, but I'm gonna try judging from one of her conversations with Nnoitra before he broke her mask and tossed her out of Las Noches. Ok?**

**And one more thing, I will be bringing in a couple others in this chapter as well, but for a reason! I think I may b moving too fast, but –shrug- o well.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Bleach or Inuyasha**

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She was slightly taller than Kagome with long, wavy sea-green hair, a pair of curved horns on the top of her head, and sand-colored eyes. She was mostly human, except for the horns sticking out of her hair and the fact that her legs started off human then started to get hairier the further down her legs until the hair stopped at her hooves. She wore a light green haori that wasn't enough to cover the size of her breasts and a short dark green skirt that was probably once a pair of hakamas. "I never thought I'd see the day!" she chirped. "The big, bad panther is finally traveling with others!"

"What are you doing here?" Grimmjow asked, stuffing his thumbs into his waistband as he turned to look at the newcomer. Everyone else was confused.

"Oh!" she suddenly gasped. "I was looking for you, actually. Nnoitra got himself into another fight, only with a snake demon this time around," she rolled her eyes, "and he managed to get himself bit. Since Tesla knows he can't come into your territory without Nnoitra, I came instead and was going to asked you if I could borrow one of those healing flowers for his bite."

Grimmjow was silent for a moment. "Does Nnoitra know what you're doing?"

"Nope!" she cheered. "You know him. He refused all help and if he knew what I was doing, he would probably move from his current location just to get away from me. He has too much pride. He's going to get himself killed and I won't care at all. Nuh-uh! No way! I don't even know why I bother since I barely acknowledge him as a warrior. But he's fun to fight against. And maybe he will be a true warrior one day. Anyway, can I have one of those flowers for Nnoitra's bite?"

Grimmjow waved his hand. "Go right on ahead," he replied. "If Nnoitra asks-"

"You had nothing to do with it!" the demoness finished. "I know. I know! See ya, Grimmjow! And I wanna know how this whole 'traveling in a pack' thing happened!"

"Tell Nnoitra and you're dead, Nel!" Grimmjow growled/yelled as the chipper demoness ran off laughing. "She's gonna tell him. Everything. Always does."

"Who was that?" Miroku asked, leaning over to the grumbling panther.

"Neliel," Grimmjow replied. "Hyper and crazy, but loyal."

"Is she taken?" the monk asked in a softer voice.

"Never thought you'd be interested in a demoness," Grimmjow commented, shoving the monk away from him. "Stick with your own species because you sure as hell cannot handle Nel! Damn, Nnoitra can't handle Nel!"

"I was just curious!" Miroku defended, not noticing Sango's flared aura. "A man would be crazy to deny a woman like that!"

"Hey!" Inuyasha yelled, further down the road than the rest were. "Are we going or what?!"

"He's acting pretty impatient," Sango pointed out.

"Well we gotta remember what tonight is," Kagome replied.

Grimmjow turned his head towards the two females, curious to what they were talking about.

"Yeah, the new moon," Sango sighed. "We should either find a village or make camp soon."

"Closest village is outside of my territory, meaning it's in Nnoitra's," Grimmjow stated. "What's the big deal about the new moon?"

Inuyasha growled at the two women, but they ignored him. Miroku was the one who answered. "It's the night when Inuyasha loses all of his demonic powers and is left as a mere human."

"Huh," Grimmjow uncaringly said, cleaning out his ear with his index finger. "Well this is gonna be a fun night."

The sun had eventually set, leaving the once bright land shrouded in shadow. A fire crackled in the circle of the circle of companions. The once half-demon now had black hair and brown eyes without dog ears, yet he still held onto his sword, which Grimmjow saw was currently just a rusty katana that wouldn't do much in a battle but break. Sango polished her weapon while glaring at the monk that was inching closer and closer to her. Kagome and Shippo both sigh when a slap resounded over the camp. Grimmjow just smirked.

It was mostly a normal night, not that different from others. Sango polished her weapon while Kirara laid behind her in her large form. Miroku got perverted, and then got slapped. Kagome told Shippo stories as he munched on pieces of sweets he got from Kagome's bag. Grimmjow was leaning against a tree not to far from the miko and kit, though was still getting used to the sight of a human half-breed. Well, he guessed that was just the downside. A twig snapped, bringing his attention, as well as Kirara's, to the patch of trees behind the panther. He slowly rose to his feet, catching the eyes of everyone at the camp.

"What's your problem?" Inuyasha growled the best a human could.

"Shut up," Grimmjow snarled at him, his hand on the hilt of his own katana.

Kagome grabbed her bow and arrows while Shippo jumped onto her shoulder. Sango picked up her Hirakotsu as Miroku reached into his robes for talismans. Inuyasha got to his feet, still holding Tetsusaiga, as Kirara stood up and hissed towards the shadows.

Grimmjow took a couple sniffs of the air before removing his hand and letting his claws grow out. "Stay put," he told them before charging into the forest.

"What's going on?" Shippo asked in a quiet voice as silence filled the once noisy nocturnal forest.

No one gave him an answer. They didn't know what to say. The silence was unnerving and caution was all they could feel at the moment until Grimmjow was thrown back into the camp and skidded on the ground. "Grimmjow!" Kagome gasped, running over to him.

"I'm fine," he told her. "Quit tossing me around!"

"Well maybe if you stopped trying to attack me, I wouldn't be tossing you around," a monotone voice commented before a figure stepped through the shadows.

His pale face was blank with two emerald eyes that scanned the campsite curiously. His black hair was messy, but not so much as if he wasn't well-groomed. A pair of black wings stuck out of his back through a hole in the back of his white haori. He wore a pair of black hakamas that barely reached his bare feet. His nails were black and sharp, standing out incredibly against his pasty white skin. A pair of large ears that reminded the group of a bat's ears stuck out of his hair, twitching with each sound that came from the forest.

"Well you're in my territory," Grimmjow pointed out. "I got every right to."

"You still are not powerful enough," the demon stated. "Besides, I was under the impression that I was allowed to enter your territory whenever seeing as your territory is within the ring that is mine. You and Nnoitra are so much the same. It tends to annoy me."

Grimmjow scoffed. "What are you doing sneaking around then?"

"If I was sneaking around, you wouldn't have heard me."

"Um, sorry to interrupt this, but who are you?" Kagome asked, looking at the demon.

The green eyes only stared at her blankly before Grimmjow spoke. "This is Ulquiorra, bat demon full of shit."

"So vulgar in the presence of a youngling," Ulquiorra commented, glancing towards Shippo. "Nel told me you were in a pack, so I felt I had to come and see for myself. That is only one reason why I am here."

"What's the other?" Grimmjow scoffed, retracting his claws as he leaned against the tree he was against earlier. Everyone else put their weapons away, but not too far. They didn't know this demon, even if Grimmjow did, and didn't know what to think of him. He was powerful, there was no doubt. After all, he threw Grimmjow who knows how far and left a few scratches on him while Ulquiorra himself had none.

"I sensed an unusual presence," Ulquiorra stated, tilting his head towards the sky. "Many of the demons are uneasy. Not to mention that I saw someone the other day I know to be dead walking around searching for something. A woman was in the sky floating on an abnormally large feather above him."

"Kagura," Inuyasha said hatefully under his breath.

"I have no obligation to know who the female was," Ulquiorra said. "But the presence making the demons uneasy, I cannot describe it. A village in Nnoitra's territory is filled with poisonous gas and all the humans in the village are dead. He is unhappy."

"Nnoitra?" Grimmjow asked. "Being angry over a dead village?"

"Of course," the bat demon replied. "If something happens in his territory without him knowing, especially if it involves deaths he did not cause, he becomes annoyed and angered. He tends to behave unpredictably when he is angered."

"Wait," Sango broke in. "You said the village was filled with poisonous gas?"

"Yes," Ulquiorra replied. "Are you hard of hearing, woman?"

Sango glared at him as Miroku tried to calm her down. "Where is this village?" Inuyasha demanded.

The bat demon looked over at Inuyasha with a blank gaze. "Seeing how you are a human, I doubt there is much you can do about it, half-breed," the bat pointed out.

Inuyasha glared at him before Grimmjow grabbed one of Ulquiorra's wings and tugged on it. "Seen anything else out of the ordinary?" he asked.

"Yes," he replied, yanking his wing out of Grimmjow's hand. "Another half-breed without a human heart. Black hair and red eyes. He reeked of spiders."

"Naraku," Kagome said in a quiet, yet malicious, tone.

"Someone you know, miko?" Ulquiorra asked, glancing curiously towards her.

"They're after Naraku for their own reasons," Grimmjow replied. "How far away?"

"The scent of the half-breed continued towards the north," the dark demon stated. "If he continues killing villages in Nnoitra's territory, then he won't get very far."

Grimmjow smirked. "I haven't had a run in with that half-breed yet, but they have," the panther pointed out. "I doubt Nnoitra can do it by himself. Especially since the spider has most of the jewel."

"The Shikon?" Ulquiorra said, raising an eyebrow. "No, I suppose Nnoitra won't stand a chance. Well then, I thought you would like to know that a vengeful Nnoitra is running about in his territory. Best be on your guard. I doubt he's able to see friend from foe when he is this angry."

"Thanks," Grimmjow muttered as Ulquiorra walked away and disappeared into the shadows. "Damn it. And here I was hoping we would run into Nnoitra when he's in a good mood, if we run into him at all."

"Well at least now we have a good lead as to where Naraku's going," Sango pointed out.

"If we do meet your companion, maybe he can tell us where the village is and we can follow any trails from there," Miroku suggested before Grimmjow scoffed.

"When he's pissed off, you stay the hell away from Nnoitra," Grimmjow stated before grumbling, "but maybe we can talk to Tesla. He's calmer than the crazy mantis."

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If one paid attention, they could tell when they entered Nnoitra's territory just from watching Grimmjow. He was tenser than normal with his eyes restlessly scanning the area surrounding them. He even left his claws out in case of a sudden attack. A mad mantis was unpredictable, especially when that mantis was Nnoitra. Inuyasha behaved as if he didn't care. Shippo stayed in Kagome's arms. Kagome herself stayed close to Grimmjow, feeling safer with him since he knew what to expect. Sango kept a tight grip on her weapon as Miroku looked around as well.

"So how do we find the village?" Sango suddenly asked.

"Hope to find Tesla without the mantis," Grimmjow replied in a gruff voice. "Which is kind of hard since they are always together. Nnoitra's paranoid."

"How would we be able to tell Tesla from other boar demons?" Miroku said.

"He's the only boar that walks on two legs," was all the panther said before the others fell in silence. "Kagome, try not to let Nnoitra get to you. His aura is powerful enough to suffocate you if you aren't careful. Everyone else is used to such things, but I can tell you aren't."

Kagome nodded. "Alright," she replied. "Maybe we won't meet up with him."

"Maybe," Grimmjow agreed. "Still. If he lashes out, don't try to fight him or Tesla's on your ass. Don't try to fight Tesla either. Actually, it would be best not to try to fight either of them."

"You going to try and fight them by yourself?" Shippo asked.

"Maybe not both of them," the teal-haired demon said with a shrug of his shoulders. "Nnoitra has too much pride to let Tesla fight the same battle as him. He'll probably make his servant keep all of you out of the fight, if we fight at all."

Inuyasha scoffed. "Why should we even stay back?" he demanded. "All we gotta do is beat them up and make them tell us where the village is."

Grimmjow sighed heavily. "You won't last five seconds against Nnoitra," Grimmjow stated. "Besides, if Nnoitra tells him to, Tesla won't let you interfere. So just sit back."

"How dangerous is Nnoitra?" Kagome asked.

"See those trees over there?" the panther replied, pointing towards a large clearing that was once part of the forest not too long ago, judging from the fallen trees with their still-green leaves and broken trunks. A few of the laying trees were still in one piece with their roots above the ground. "He probably did that recently, meaning we're probably going to run into him sooner than later. He rarely damages his own territory, but when he does, you know he's pissed."

"That doesn't answer how dangerous he is," Miroku pointed out.

"Seeing the way those trees are should tell you enough," Grimmjow said uncaringly. "Those weren't cut down. They were pushed down with bare hands."

Shippo gulped loudly, looking towards the broken trees. "Maybe we should take another route?" he suggested.

"Grow up, ya stupid runt!" Inuyasha snapped at the kit, earning a glare from Kagome and a quiet growl from Grimmjow.

"If we took another route, we would never figure out which village was attacked unless we go to each one around here," Sango pointed out. "It would be easier to talk to Nnoitra, right?"

"I don't know," Grimmjow replied, scratching the back of his head. "Searching each village sounds like a better idea than talking to a pissed Nnoitra."

"Would it make you feel better if I tell you I managed to calm down some?" someone asked before Grimmjow stopped and looked up into the tree next to him. "Never have I thought you would be that scared of me, Grimmjow."

"Get your twig ass down here, Nnoitra," Grimmjow said. "And no, it doesn't make me feel better at all."

A chuckle met their ears before a tall, pale man with long black hair, his bangs covering one of his violet eyes, jumped down from the trees and crossed his thin arms over his chest. He wore a pair of loose white hakamas and a black haori with sleeves that would probably cover his hands if he dropped his arms. Unlike most haoris, though, this one had a hood, strangely enough. Another being stepped forward, a shorter man with shaggy sandy-blonde hair and brown eyes, a piece of white fabric tied around his forehead and pushing back his hair a little bit. He only wore a pair of tan hakamas that were tightly hugging his waist but fell loose the further down it went. Both were barefooted.

"Whoa," Shippo whispered, looking up at the much taller demon. He towered over any other demon he ever saw! Kagome gripped the string of her bow with one hand while her other arm was holding onto Shippo as securely as she could. Sango gripped onto her Hiraikotsu, ready in case the powerful mantis decided to fight rather than cooperate with them. Miroku's grip tightened on his staff as Inuyasha placed a hand on the hilt of Tetsusaiga. Strangely enough, Kirara didn't react.

"Do I scare you that much?" Nnoitra mocked with a wide grin.

"No," Grimmjow replied. "I just hate dealing with you in a bad mood."

Nnoitra laughed at that before noticing the others and his grin dropped to a confused frown. "Well what do you know," he lowly said. "You are traveling in a pack. Thought you never would. And here I was thinking Nel was telling false tales again. Looks like I was wrong. I would ask what you're doing here, but I could really care less."

"We were hoping you could tell us where the village that was attacked was," Kagome stated as Shippo leapt from her arm to her shoulder.

The mantis looked over at her with narrowed eyes. "This is my territory, so why should it be a concern of yours?!" he snapped at her.

"Because we're after the one who killed that village," Sango replied.

Nnoitra scoffed. "It's none of your business," he growled at them before Grimmjow reached up and grabbed his collar, pulling him down until they were face to face.

"Nnoitra, you're a prideful demon, everyone knows it," the panther pointed out. "Now, they're prideful, too. The demon that killed that village has made their lives hell and they just want a little revenge. So start talking."

"Make me," Nnoitra challenged, gripping Grimmjow's wrist tightly until Grimmjow let him go. "Stick to your own land, Grimmjow. And stay out of the affair of humans. You'll only get yourself killed. I can handle that demon myself."

"Ulquiorra hasn't told you, then?" Grimmjow asked as the taller demon straightened up.

Nnoitra glanced towards the blue-haired demon with a raised eyebrow. "About the demon holding onto most of the Shikon?" he clarified. "Yes, he told me. I don't care. I'm gonna find him and teach him why he should stay the hell out of my lands!"

"Nnoitra-sama," the shorter male suddenly spoke in a quiet voice. "You're still healing from the snake bite. You shouldn't-"

"Shut up!" Nnoitra snapped at him, throwing his arm back into the other demon's chest. The force of the blow threw the smaller demon into a tree behind him. "I didn't ask for your opinion, Tesla, so stay quiet!"

"Now you know why I'd rather deal with him in a good mood," Grimmjow muttered. "Of course, you wouldn't really understand unless you see him in a bad mood."

"This is a good mood?" Shippo asked in shock.

"Yep," the panther replied before snapping his fingers. "Hey, Nnoitra!" The mantis demon turned back to the group. "I'll tell you what, you tell us where the village is and we'll send the guy to you as soon as we find him so you can kill him."

"I'll find the bastard on my own!" Nnoitra snapped as Tesla made his way back over to stand behind the taller demon. "I don't need your fucking help!"

"Can you at least tell us where the village is so we can find out where Naraku went?" Kagome asked in a calm tone. "When we find him, we'll just take the jewel from him and you two can have a fair fight."

"Naraku doesn't know what a fair fight is," Inuyasha stated.

"Neither do I," Nnoitra chuckled. "But fine. Just because you're so annoying and I'd rather you leave me the hell alone. The village is about a three day walk east of here and the scent of the half-breed headed north."

"Thank you," Kagome chirped with a smile.

The mantis demon stared at her with a raised eyebrow before lowering enough to say lowly to Grimmjow, "How did you ever come across a human like that? Her scent is divine and she's pretty for a human. Not to mention I can smell her hidden power."

"Saved her from a boar," Grimmjow replied with a shrug. "Don't ask why, but I did."

Nnoitra laughed lightly at the panther before straightening up and turning to Tesla. "Get a move on," he ordered. "I wanna figure out where that half-breed went before nightfall."

"Yes, Nnoitra-sama," Tesla replied as the mantis walked past him and into the forest, Tesla following after him at the same pace.

The group was silent for a minute before Kagome broke it. "Well, I think we should be going," she said in a cheerful tone. The others agreed, but Grimmjow remained quiet and where he was standing, staring the direction the pair disappeared towards. "Grimmjow? Something wrong?"

"Just leave him," Inuyasha growled.

Grimmjow turned and wrapped a hand around Kagome's waist before leading her away. The others watched the pair curiously, even Shippo (who was still on Kagome's shoulder) was looking at the panther curiously. "Nnoitra normally doesn't just leave a pack he doesn't fully know alone," he said once the others followed and caught up with them. "And from what he said about Kagome, he would probably try to take her first."

"What did he say about her?" Miroku asked.

"Said her scent was driving him crazy, she was pretty for a human, and that he could smell lots of untapped power coming from her," Grimmjow replied. "He's interested, but not in the way most would think."

"Hopefully it won't be another Kouga," Kagome sighed.

"Kouga?" Grimmjow repeated in curiosity.

"He's the leader of the Wolf Demon Tribe," Shippo replied. "And boy does he have a crush on Kagome! He calls her his woman every time he sees her!"

Grimmjow raised and eyebrow before looking at Kagome. "He does," she said.

"Does he have your consent about that?" the panther asked.

"No," Inuyasha snapped.

"But he keeps doing it anyway," Sango added with a sigh.

"It seems that he shall never understand that you can't force a lady to be yours," Miroku commented as he inched closer to Sango. "You must woo the woman." Then he touched her butt and felt an intense sting on his cheek from her slap.

"Hentai houshi!" she grumbled darkly, her eyes narrowed towards the monk.

"It wasn't my fault, Sango!" Miroku whined. "My hand is cursed! I swear, I had nothing to do with that!"

"Yeah right!"

"I can watch that all day," Grimmjow chuckled.

"You and me both," Shippo giggled, jumping onto Grimmjow's shoulder. "Hey, Grimmjow," he whispered into the demon's ear. Blue eyes glanced at the kitsune to show he was listening. "Do you like Kagome?" A small dusting of red found its way to Grimmjow's cheeks. The silence and blush was all Shippo needed for an answer.

**12345678987654231**

Much to Inuyasha's displeasure, saying they rested the night before and they should keep moving, they made camp that night. Grimmjow had hunted down some rabbits, skinning and cutting them up for rabbit stew the two females were working on. Shippo was sitting between Grimmjow's feet and playing with his spin-top on the ground while Kirara was making sure it stayed away from the two women cooking. Miroku was messing around with the beads on his arm. Inuyasha was just sitting in a high branch, sulking about losing the argument on whether to make camp or not.

"Grimmjow!" someone suddenly called out before a green blur latched onto the surprised panther.

"Nel!" he growled at the demoness. "Get off me!"

"Okay!" Nel chirped, releasing her hold before sitting on the ground. "Aw! What a cute kitsune!" she squealed, picking Shippo up and cuddling him in her arms. "You are such a cutie! How old are you?"

"Eight," Shippo replied. "But that doesn't mean you can treat me like a kid!"

Nel giggled, placing the kitsune down. "Even a warrior can act like a kid sometimes," she stated. "But they have to know when it's okay to act like a kid and when it's okay to act like a grown-up. You don't have to grow up so fast, little fox. But I can tell you'll be a great warrior when you do."

"What are you doing, Nel?" Grimmjow asked.

Her gurgling stomach answered his question. She blushed slightly as Kagome and Sango laughed gently. "Would you like to stay for dinner, Nel?" Kagome said once she stopped laughing.

"I don't want to cause any trouble," Nel replied.

"No trouble at all!" Sango chimed in. "I think we made a bit too much anyway, so it would be a shame if it went to waste."

"Well, if you say so!" the green-haired demoness said with a nod of her head. "Thanks! Oh! Would it be okay if the others come, too? Ulquiorra was talking with Nnoitra and me when I smelled the food and ran off."

"We should have enough," Kagome said, looking into the large pot they had.

"Hey!" Inuyasha snapped, jumping down from his branch. "We're not feeding the entire forest!"

"Sit, boy!" the miko yelled before the hanyou fell to the ground and left a lovely imprint in the earth.

Nel blinked before hearing Nnoitra's laughter. "Do that again!" the mantis's voice rang out before he appeared from the tree with Tesla behind him and Ulquiorra next to him.

"It was quite amusing," the bat demon commented. "Neliel, you should not impose on others."

"They said I could!" Nel stated, sticking her tongue out at Ulquiorra. He just raised an eyebrow.

"She's not imposing at all," Miroku vouched for the demoness. "We invited her to eat with us."

"If you guys want to, you can stay and eat with us, too," Kagome offered.

"Thank you," Ulquiorra said, sitting on the ground near Nel, but with enough space between them for another. "I have never tried eating food made from humans, but this does smell quite tempting."

"We're not a fucking charity!" Inuyasha yelled as Nnoitra sat between Ulquiorra and Nel. Ulquiorra moved over a little more, knowing Tesla would want to sit next to the mantis demon, which he did.

"Sit, boy!" Kagome snapped. "Sit! Sit! Sit! Learn some manners!"

"You'd think he'd learn by now," Miroku sighed, shaking his head slowly.

"No way!" Shippo playfully scoffed. "He's too much of an idiot!"

"I'll get you for that, brat!" Inuyasha growled into the soil, but was still heard.

"I can see why you wished to travel in this pack, Grimmjow," Ulquiorra commented. "They are amusing."

Grimmjow made a small noise in agreement. "That's part of the reason," he muttered under his breath. Three pairs of eyes went to Grimmjow in confusion, but he ignored each pair, watching Inuyasha hit Shippo on the head again before enduring 'sit' once more. Nel grabbed the kitsune once more and started to cuddle him into her large chest.

"By the way, what are your names?" Tesla asked.

"I'm Kagome," the miko replied. "This is Sango the demon slayer, Kirara the demon cat, Miroku the monk, Shippo the kitsune, and Inuyasha-"

"The half-breed!" Grimmjow added with a smirk.

"Grimmjow! That's rude!"

Once the stew was finished, Kagome pulled out a tall stack of bowls from her backpack and started filling each one up, handing over the filled bowls to their guest first, ignoring Inuyasha's protests. They ate in silence for a while until Nel suddenly placed her now empty bowl down. "That was good!" she exclaimed. "Is there any more?"

"Yeah," Kagome replied before Nel's bowl was filled once again.

"I must admit, this taste better than any other food I've eaten before," Ulquiorra said, calmly eating his stew instead of gulping it down like a certain pair of demons. "Nnoitra and Nel, eating like that is revolting. Calm yourselves, for once." Nnoitra scoffed as Nel stuck her tongue out at him before both started eating at their usual pace. The others, except for Inuyasha, laughed at the demons antics.

"So did you manage to get a scent?" Grimmjow asked Nnoitra, who paused in his eating long enough to shake his head before diving back in.

"Don't care right now because this is some good shit!" Nnoitra proclaimed.

"Language, Nnoitra," Nel scolded him, waving her finger at the much taller demon. "There is a young kit present."

"So?"

The two started to argue, much to the amusement of most of the group. "I don't think they're that bad, despite what Grimmjow said about Nnoitra," Kagome said lowly to Sango, who nodded in agreement.

"Yeah," the demon slayer replied. "Nel's pretty nice. Ulquiorra acts distant, but I don't sense any evil intent from him. Nnoitra has a temper, but he doesn't seem all that bad. I can't say much about Tesla."

"I don't think he has an aggressive bone in his body," the miko commented, watching the boar attempt to keep Nnoitra from fighting with Nel. "He seems pretty nice."

"We just seem to make more and more allies without even trying," Miroku chuckled.

"You know, if Grimmjow is going to stay with us, he'll have to know the truth," Sango pointed out, looking towards Kagome.

The younger woman nodded her head once. "I know," she sighed. "Wonder how well he'll handle it."

"Handle what?" Nel asked, suddenly appearing behind Kagome, making the three jump in surprise.

"Nel!" Kagome playfully whined. "Don't do that!" Nel just laughed.

"Well as much fun as this was," Ulquiorra said as he got to his feet, "I'm afraid I must leave now. Good night." With that, his wings stretched out before he launched himself into the sky and flew off.

"He's been acting weird," Nnoitra commented, watching the bat demon disappear. "Think he's got himself a potential mate?"

"Why do you say that?" Sango asked.

"He's never acted like that before," Nel replied for the mantis. "But he's right. Ulquiorra's been acting strange lately."

"I doubt he has a potential mate," Grimmjow scoffed. "He's too cold to everyone. But while we're on the subject, when the hell are you gonna get yourself a mate, Nnoitra?"

Nnoitra laughed out loud. "I may be a demon, but I'm still a mantis!" he pointed out. "I go and find a powerful female mantis so I don't end up creating weird as hell little mutts, I'll get my head eaten right after the sex. No thank you. I'll stick to my own ways."

"What? Rutting with Tesla?" Nel teased.

Many eyes went wide while Grimmjow and Nel laughed. Nnoitra just glared at the female. "Nel-sama!" Tesla complained. "Must you make such false comments?"

**1234567898765432123456789875421**

**And that shall b the end of this chapter, yet the beginning of a long-lasting friendship. Now review! ^^ and all flames shall b used to make smores. I haven't had those in forever, but they're so, so good! And no, this is not a NnoiTes. I already have one of those. Nnoitra will either stay by himself or get with Nel. But I don't see that happening in Kagome's time period, so I think he'll just b by himself. review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank u all for the reviews! Glad every1 likes the story so far! ^^ make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside! Now here's the new chapter and I hope every1 likes it.**

**O, u now what I noticed for a while now? Nel and Szayel and most of the other Arrancars have no Hollow holes. They have masks, but no holes. Where r the Hollow holes? Cuz we've seen Nel will little to nothing covering her chest and we've seen Szayel shirtless. And as far as I can see, Tesla don't got one either! Same wit another Espada, but I can't remember which ones. I wanna say Barragan and the seventh Espada, but I'm not too sure if I'm remembering right. Thing is, we haven't seen the Hollow holes. They cannot be Hollow or Arrancars if they don't have holes!**

**Disclaimer: I do now own Inuyasha or Bleach.**

The village was relatively average size, filled with a purple gas in the air. A mountain was a few miles north of it and the group was on the large hill that was south of the village. It was basically in a valley.

It was midday when Sango flew back on Kirara from the poisonous village. The only reason she went instead of anyone else or with everyone else was because the village was still filled with the gas, strange as it was, and she was the only one with a mask. Though Nnoitra decided to stick around as long as they were in his territory in case they found anything out that he could use to hunt down Naraku himself, he couldn't enter the dead village either since the gas was powerful enough to kill a demon of his strength and probably a demon as strong as Ulquiorra.

"Anything?" Inuyasha impatiently asked as Kirara landed and Sango removed her mask.

"Nothing," she regrettably replied. "Kagura was there, though. Some of the homes are completely destroyed and there are deep groves in the ground. It looks like she used her Dance of Blades. But the strange thing is, I can't find any bodies and there's barely any blood."

"So the villagers are either safe or were killed at a different location," Miroku commented, his hand on his chin as he thought. "That doesn't make sense, though. Unless Kagura did kill them all and used her Dance of the Dead to manipulate the bodies. Ulquiorra did say there was someone he knew was dead wandering around looking for something."

"Shikon shards?" Kagome suggested.

"Doubt it," Grimmjow gruffly replied.

"If he wanted those, he wouldn't have Kagura use dead human bodies to find them," Inuyasha stated, linking his arms over his chest.

"Inuyasha's right," Miroku agreed. "Naraku's looking for something, but it isn't shards of the Shikon jewel."

"Or maybe it's Kagura looking for something," Shippo added in. "Think about it. I mean, every time Naraku gives her an order, she gets all angry about it. Like she doesn't even want to listen to him, but she has to because she's one of his incarnations."

"He has a good point," Kagome said with a nod of her head.

"All possibilities are open at the time," Miroku sighed, tilting his head downward.

"If this Kagura killed them all and used their dead bodies to find something, then why isn't there more blood in the village?" Nnoitra asked, narrowing his eyes towards the village. "Seems pretty damn fishy to me."

"That's what I was thinking," Grimmjow stated as he crouched down, gripping the earth under his hand. "Not to mention it doesn't smell like there's a lot of blood in the air once you get past the scent of everything else down there."

"Well maybe they managed to get away, like Miroku said," Shippo said, looking towards the two demons from his spot on Tesla's shoulders. He still mostly stayed near Kagome and Grimmjow, but Tesla was really nice and didn't seem to mind him being there so far. If anything, Tesla was like an older brother in Shippo's already strange adopted family, if not another uncle or maybe a cousin if Nnoitra saw the boar as a son. He was still deciding if he could even call Nnoitra an uncle or not. Nel was already another aunt. He wasn't sure about Ulquiorra yet, either.

"Humans outrunning a demon," the mantis scoffed. "Yeah. That's a real possibility."

"When humans feel fear, they do tend to do things demons would not expect them to do," Sango pointed out before she sighed gently. "You said Naraku headed north?"

"Said his scent heads north, but for all I know, that could be the woman you guys are tracking since she is his incarnation," Nnoitra replied, crossing his arms over his chest. "I can't smell anything else other than that shit down there and the scent headed north."

"We can either follow it or look somewhere else for Naraku," Inuyasha said, dropping his arms to the side as he started marching down the hill they were on.

"Are you fucking stupid?" Nnoitra asked in with bland tone. "That gas down there could kill anyone who wanders into it. Hell, I'm surprised it's still there! The village was attacked about four days ago!"

"The miasma should have dissipated or weakened by then," Miroku said in a low voice. "Why is there still so much of it? And why is it so strong?"

"My point!" Nnoitra commented, waving a hand towards the monk.

"Maybe Naraku's down there, but he sent Kagura north to throw us off track and follow her there," Kagome stated. "As far as Naraku knows, Inuyasha's the only one with a strong sense of smell. He's probably somewhere in the village, thinking that we would follow the trail left there instead of searching the village itself. Or maybe the reason his scent is heading north is because he came from the north. Otherwise, wouldn't there be another trail somewhere?"

"I knew you were smarter than you let on," Grimmjow chuckled as he rose to his feet. "You guys have to admit she has a good point."

"But we can't enter the village without the miasma choking us," Shippo whined, lowering his head slightly. "And Sango's the only one with a mask."

Inuyasha started to growl and grumble under his breath. "We don't even know if Naraku's there or not!" he shouted at them. "Let's just follow the trail and see if it's actually Kagura or if it's Naraku! In case you hadn't noticed, there's no barrier here and Naraku always has a barrier!"

"Yeah, follow the trail then come back here and start all over again," Grimmjow growled at the hanyou. "Makes perfect fucking sense!"

"Shut up! No one asked you!" Inuyasha yelled back at him.

"No one may have asked, but it's pretty damn obvious!" the panther argued. "What the hell kind of leader are you? You charge in head first, don't even think about the rest of the pack, and are just plain flat stupid!"

"Grimmjow," Kagome softly spoke before Nnoitra looked at Tesla then at Kagome.

The boar nodded once and placed a hand on the miko's shoulder to stop her from interfering. "This is probably something he needs to hear," Tesla said in a calm voice. "It may open his eyes."

"Who the fucking hell do you think you are?" Inuyasha snapped at the panther, hand on Tetsusaiga's hilt.

"I think I'm the guy with more common sense than you!" Grimmjow snarled back. "You're always pushing these guys around. They get tired and want to rest, but you want to keep going and don't care if they suddenly drop from exhaustion! They try everything they can to keep themselves and everyone else protected, but you treat them like they're nothing but shit! Not to mention both Kagome and Sango try real hard to make enough food for everyone without burning it or whatever, yet all you want is that bowl of disgusting noodles! And like I said, you charge in head first without a plan or anything and act like you don't care if they get hurt!

"You don't protect them like they protect each other! You run off every time you smell that undead whore at night! And all you fucking care about are the Shikon shards! You don't give a shit about anything else! Who the fuck cares if you had a rough life with no friends just because you're a half-breed? You keep this shit up and you'll find yourself without a pack again! You know what? I'll admit this. I'm fucking SURPRISED that they didn't ditch your ungrateful ass a long time ago!"

"Grimmjow!" Kagome yelled out. "That's enough."

The panther just scoffed. "It's something he needs to hear," he stated, narrowed eyes still on the hanyou. "You ever fucking think that maybe your fear that they would leave you alone one day may come true because you're treating them like fucking shit. Grow up and quit being such a spoiled brat!"

"Who the hell asked you?" Inuyasha growled at the panther, pulling out his sword. "You're no one! Who the hell cares what you think! You don't know anything about my pack!"

"I know a lot more about them than you do," Grimmjow mocked, glancing towards Nnoitra before the others. The mantis nodded, knowing this argument had a high chance of turning into a battle, and moved over to stand in front of the group. "Do you even care about them? To me, it seems like you would abandon them in a moment.

"You always run off in the middle of the night to see a cold woman that smells of dirt and death, filled with hate, and wants nothing more than to drag you to hell. Then as soon as you see Kagome watching you, you suddenly change your mind and go to her. But the rest of the time, you treat her like a worthless wench and make her feel inferior to your undead whore.

"You hit Shippo on the head whenever you feel like it or when you think the kit's annoying you too much. Hell, he just says one word and you hit him. Not to mention you don't help him try to develop his own abilities. He's a fucking kid! He's eight years old! He knows how to world works, but isn't strong enough to handle it and you're not helping him at all!

"Sango or Miroku get hurt and you barely slow down enough to give them time to fix themselves up! Miroku has that Wind Tunnel growing every fucking day and Sango has a brother out there being controlled like a puppet, but all you wanna do is go rut a walking clay bitch and get shards! You don't care what they're going through, you just want to find Naraku for your own selfish reason to become a full demon!

"You have friends here that look past all your shit and accept you for who you are. You're taking them for granted! They're not always going to stand by your side unless you straighten the hell up! Quit being a cub afraid of being alone and turn into a man."

"You calling me nothing but a pup?" Inuyasha snarled. "And how dare you accuse me of not caring about the others! I do care for them!"

"Not from what I've seen so far," Grimmjow scoffed before dodging the large sword that swung at him. "You're short-tempered and that will get you and your pack killed." He dodged another swing. "You may not view me as part of the pack, but the others do. Wonder what kind of message this is sending them." He leapt into the air and landed on a branch to avoid another blow. "If they start talking back and defending themselves, would you attack them as well for not listening to you?" Inuyasha jumped towards him and swung the Tetsusaiga. Grimmjow dodged before the blade cut through the branch he was formerly on.

"SIT!" Kagome yelled out as loudly as she could. Inuyasha fell to the ground, Tetsusaiga embedding itself into the earth near him. "Stop fighting! The both of you."

Grimmjow looked towards her, inwardly feeling guilty about the petty fight when he saw her watering eyes.

Inuyasha, on the other hand, just yelled, "Stay out of this, Kagome!" as he got back to his feet. "I knew letting you in wouldn't do us any good," he growled at the blue-haired panther. "You're just here to break us apart, aren't you? You only agreed to join so you could break us apart from the inside out. You aren't here to help us. You're here to destroy us!"

"That's just your own way of denying everything Grimmjow said to be true," Nnoitra stated, narrowing his eyes at the hanyou. "Geez, I don't know how you managed to last as long as you have with this guy, Grimmjow."

"Never had an argument this bad," the panther stated as he sniffed at the air. His sense of smell wasn't as strong as a canine's, but it was still stronger than a normal feline youkai. He could generally pick anything up from underneath any other scent when he concentrated hard enough. With the half-demon being sat by Kagome, he could probably concentrate long enough without him yelling at him.

"There's no scent of another male demon around here other than ours," Grimmjow stated, looking towards the mantis. "The scent that is either heading to or coming from the north is female. So there, it's not Naraku." He looked towards Inuyasha. "Your sense of smell is stronger than mine. If you thought first and acted later, or probably at the same time, you would know that."

"Should we follow the trail Kagura left then?" Shippo asked as Inuyasha sheathed his sword.

"No," Grimmjow replied. "Szayel don't like other demons flying in his wind."

"Huh?" many of the others said.

"Szayel's a flyer," Nnoitra stated with a smirk on his lips. "Not much of a fighter, but he thinks he's perfection in the flesh and if someone's in his wind, he generally knocks them right down and starts doing all kind of tests on them. Its his thing."

"He's weaker than us, but he does know his mountain better than anyone else," Grimmjow added. "If she survives, I would be surprised as hell."

"We're not going to meet with him and ask if he's seen her?" Miroku asked.

"Nope," the three demons replied simultaneously as Nnoitra turned around and started walking into the forest. Tesla removed the fox kit from his shoulder before handing him over to Kagome and jogging to catch up to the mantis.

"Didn't Nnoitra just say this Szayel wasn't a fighter?" Kagome pointed out. "Why do you guys not wanna ask him if he's seen Kagura?"

"Because it would be pointless," Grimmjow replied. "Szayel's smart and everything, but he tends to grab anything that interests him or invades his flying space and take them apart while adding poisons into their systems to see which one will kill his victim in the slowest and most painful way. No. We are not going to him. Nnoitra and I pissed him off last time we saw him and I have a feeling he hasn't calmed down yet. Damn bird. It was three months ago and he can hold a grudge."

"A bird?" Inuyasha scoffed. "You're scared of a bird?"

"Half phoenix youkai," Grimmjow replied. "Not exactly immortal like most phoenix youkai, but the other half of him is vicious. We're still trying to figure him out. All we know is that he's half phoenix and half of some other demon. But when he's flying, he's the biggest damn bird in the sky."

**12345678987654321 ****Scene Change (because I feel like it)****12345678987654321**

Golden eyes watched the strange woman on the large feather glided through the wind as she muttered under her breath. The woman herself was unaware of the eyes watching her. The owner of the eyes hummed lightly as he ran a hand through his pink hair. Obviously someone didn't know who this mountain belongs to. And she wouldn't live long enough not to remember. He still had a few other poisons to test and she just made herself his next 'volunteer'.

He pushed himself off of the branch he was on before transforming in mid flight to a large light-red bird with a long neck, wide wing-span, tail feathers as long as his neck with gold mixed with the light-red, and sharp talons. She seemed to notice him then. He mentally chuckled when she pulled out a fan and threw blades of wind at him, but he dodged them before grabbing her with his talons and flying quickly to the ground, landing harshly to make sure she would be out cold. He didn't want to deal with his new toy struggling against him.

**12345678987654321 ****Back with the Others**** 12345678987654321**

"That was a big bird," Shippo said in awe.

"That was Szayel," Grimmjow stated. "Told you he'd grab her if she was in his flying space."

"So we're not going there?" Kagome asked.

"We are not going there," Grimmjow assured.

"So this Szayel friend of your is a large pink bird?" Miroku commented, chuckling under his breath.

"He says he's light-red," the panther stated with a grin. "I don't see that big of a difference between the two. He's just trying to save his pride as a man. He fails."

**12345678987654321**

Another week had come and gone, finding the group back within Kaede's village since Kagome kept saying she needed to go home. Inuyasha, as always, didn't want her to go. Of course neither did the others, but they knew how important it was to Kagome. Grimmjow still didn't get how the well was a portal, but it was explained to him when they reached Kaede's village after Kagome jumped down the well.

"She lives in a different time," Shippo helpfully informed him. "I think she said she lives 500 years into the future!"

"How'd she end up here?" Grimmjow asked.

"A demon named Mistress Centipede broke through the well to her time and dragged her in!" the kitsune explained. "We used to think the Shikon shards let her pass through now, but so far, only Inuyasha and Kagome and go through. I tried when I was holding onto half of the jewel before it was stolen from us, but the well wouldn't let me go through. We don't know why, but it will only let those two go."

"Such a shame, though," Miroku sighed. "If all the women in Lady Kagome's time dressed like she does…" He froze, feeling the cold glare coming from Sango.

"What were you going to say, Miroku?" she practically growled at him.

"Nothing, my dear Sango!" the monk yelped, inching away from her.

"That's what I thought!"

'Well I guess Kagome being from a different time period than us would explain a lot about her,' Grimmjow thought to himself, leaning against the wall with Shippo sitting on his lap. 'She doesn't think like the humans in this time do. She isn't completely experience in battle like all mikos normally are. Not to mention she is smarter than any other human I've seen, and definitely smarter than most low-level demons. I've never seen a human do mathematics or other things such as what she does. She's still learning her herbs and such, but she catches on fast. Yeah, it kind of does explain a lot about her.'

**12345678987654321**

Five days, twenty-three arguments with Inuyasha, twelve spars with Sango, and countless trick-plotting with Shippo later (he had no idea what to do with Miroku other than talk), Kagome had finally returned and of her own free will. She was surprised that Inuyasha didn't come and drag her back himself after day two, and would have stayed home longer, but didn't want to push her luck. She was giggling when the others told her that Grimmjow was the one that kept Inuyasha in the village and away from the well. The panther actually took to guarding it at night so the hanyou wouldn't drag her back at ungodly hours.

Grimmjow admitted he would do it again and again so long as he got the same reward, a kiss on the cheek from the miko he was starting to feel for. What he was feeling for her, he wasn't sure quite yet, but Nnoitra wouldn't stop teasing him whenever they ran into him and Ulquiorra wasn't helping at all.

Actually he took to changing the subject one day. "Do you know that Szayel's latest victim is still alive, even after being there for almost fourteen days?" he said. "He seems pretty enthusiastic about it."

"What victim?" Grimmjow asked after swallowing the piece of cooked deer meat that the two woman worked together to make. Strangely enough, they didn't really eat deer meat before, and were quite excited when he came back with a skinned and drained deer to cook. Nel kind of showed up out of nowhere with Ulquiorra a couple minutes after the meat was done cooking.

"A wind demoness," Nel replied before biting into her piece of cooked deer. "She's starting to weaken and wither away, but Szayel's getting a kick out of her. He's tried all kinds of poisons, wrote down which ones caused her the most pain, but she won't die."

"He even took to opening her up one day to see that she literally had no heart," Ulquiorra added. "Though how she is alive, he can't explain. He suspects that her heart is somewhere hidden away, still beating so she is unable to die."

"Wait," Sango quietly spoke. "That's gotta be Kagura!"

"Maybe we can get to Szayel and get some answers out of Kagura," Kagome suggested.

"We've spoken with Szayel about that," Ulquiorra stated. "And he's tried to get answers out of her by means of offering her freedom from his tortures. She said even if she told him everything he wanted to know, she wouldn't be free and she would only die in the middle of answering the first question. He asked her how she would die and she told him that Naraku could crush her heart in his hand and kill her."

"Even though he's done worse than that, it seemed to bother Szayel that some half-demon could crush her heart while she's answering his questions," Nel commented, picking out a piece of meat that got stuck between her front teeth.

"I guess to him, if someone's going to die in front of him, it'll either be of their own accord, their injuries, or his poisons," Grimmjow said. "He has a strange way of thinking."

"How can Naraku know if Kagura's giving any information away?" Inuyasha suddenly spoke up from his perch on a branch.

"Naraku has Kanna," Miroku pointed out. "She can use her mirror to either take souls from anyone or show Naraku what he wants to see. He's probably watching Kagura to make sure she doesn't say anything. And if she does, he'll kill her."

"And I thought Szayel was sadistic with his poisons," Nel grumbled under her breath. "That's just cruel! If he's able to kill her, then kill her if he isn't able to help her! Don't just let her be tortured endlessly without even trying to lift a finger to help!"

"Naraku wouldn't do something like that," Kagome interrupted. "He's a cruel, evil demon that hides behind puppets and his incarnations like a coward. If we can find him and break his barrier, as well as take the Shikon from him, then we can kill him."

"Would it really be that easy?" Sango asked. "I mean, every time we think we're close, something always happens that ruins everything."

"I thought despair was Ulquiorra's thing," Grimmjow joked with a smirk. "Look, we'll find him and we'll kill him. I may not have any personal reasons to kill this half-breed, but I know that a demon like him running around will end up with the world in ruin. You guys want to kill him out of revenge. That's fine and all, but don't let that be your main reason or it will blind you and you may not get out of the battle alive."

"What are your reasons for going after such a demon?" Ulquiorra asked, honestly curious though his tone didn't show it.

"He has my brother and used him to kill my family," Sango solemnly replied. "He killed everyone in the demon slayer village. Kohaku is still under his control and I plan to free my brother from him."

They were silent for a moment before Miroku spoke next. "Naraku placed a curse on my family," the monk stated, holding up his hand that held the Wind Tunnel. "It consumed my father and grandfather. Every male in my family has been cursed with it and it swallows us in the end. Soon, the Wind Tunnel will consume me as well unless Naraku is destroyed, then the curse will be lifted."

"He hasn't done anything to me or Shippo," Kagome admitted. "But I can't allow someone that evil to live and kill innocent people. And besides, he has most of the Shikon no Tama and I am its guardian."

"I've never heard of a miko with such noble intentions," Nel said in awe before looking up at Inuyasha. "So what's your story?"

Inuyasha just scoffed. "Naraku's probably done him wrong the worst," Kagome stated. "Naraku can change his form to whoever he wants. He was infatuated with Kikyo, who in turned loved Inuyasha. They were going to use the jewel so Inuyasha could become full human. They were going to meet up somewhere, but Naraku made himself look like Inuyasha and attacked her in the spot where they were going to meet.

"He cut her shoulder, leaving a fatal wound, and stole the jewel but put it back in the village. Then he changed his shape to Kikyo and attacked Inuyasha, driving both of them to think they were betrayed by the other. Inuyasha stole the jewel then Kikyo sealed him to a tree. I was the one who woke him up fifty years later. Since we found out who started it all, we've started looking for Naraku."

The group was silent until, "Guess you two didn't truly love each other after all!" Nel sighed loudly.

Inuyasha glared at her.

"Think about it," Nel said. "If you two truly loved each other, she wouldn't care if you were a human, a demon, or a half-demon. If she wanted you to be human, she didn't truly love you for who you are. Not to mention you probably didn't truly love her either if you think she would just suddenly attack you for no reason. Benefit of a doubt!"

"Who asked you?" Inuyasha growled.

"She merely states the obvious," Ulquiorra pointed out.

"Who the hell cares what she thinks?" the half-demon said in a loud voice. "As a matter of fact, why the hell are you two still here?"

"We're visiting!" Nel chirped, raising her fist into the air as Ulquiorra sighed slightly. The others, except Inuyasha whom just glared at her, laughed gently at the hyperactive demoness. Nel reached over and picked up Shippo once she saw he was done eating and trying not to fall asleep. "So if Naraku hasn't done anything to you, why do you travel with them?"

"Inuyasha and Kagome helped me when I first met them," the kit replied, rubbing his eyes. "My father was killed by the Thunder Brothers and I stole their shards to draw the Brothers out. I told them what happened when Inuyasha caught me and they killed the Thunder Brothers. We almost died, but father protected us. I wanted to get his pelt back, and he still protected us when it was clear we were going to die. Since then, I've stayed with them."

"Demons like that are trash," Ulquiorra commented, digging dirt out from under his claws. "Killing others just because they want something the others have. Not to mention killing a father when it's clear he had a child with him and no mother to look after the child. I honestly cannot imagine why demons would want the Shikon for their own strength. They retain their pride if their power is their own."

"That's the reason I told them when they asked if I was gonna take their shards," Grimmjow chuckled before he abruptly stopped and sniffed the air. "I smell a wolf."

"And I sense shards," Kagome added.

"That damn flea-bitten wolf!" Inuyasha loudly exclaimed.

"Who?" Grimmjow and Nel asked, looking towards Kagome. Ulquiorra just jumped into a tree and landed on a branch.

"Kouga," the others replied.

"The wolf demon that claims you as his even though he doesn't have your consent?" the panther said, still looking at Kagome. Nel raised her eyebrow slightly.

"Yep," Kagome replied.

Grimmjow let out a low hum when he spotted the twister coming their way. "What's the point of speed if everyone can see you coming?" Nel asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Why don't you ask him instead of us," Ulquiorra suggested from his perch in the tree.

"Why are you up there?" Shippo spoke up, tilting his head back so he could see Ulquiorra a little bit.

"Bats get along with wolves about as much as they get along with foxes," Grimmjow replied. "You know what I'm talking about." Shippo nodded.

"But Ulquiorra doesn't mind Shippo, and Shippo doesn't mind Ulquiorra," Kagome pointed out, keeping her eyes on the approaching twister and a 'sit' on her lips.

"Exception," was all Ulquiorra said before the twister broke into their camp and disappeared, leaving Kouga in plain view.

"Hey, Kagome!" he cheerfully greeted with a wave.

"Hello, Kouga," Kagome greeted back before the wolf demon was in front of her with her hands in his.

"I'm glad to see that the mutt managed to keep you safe from harm, but I still don't like him being around you," the wolf demon stated.

"Hey, wolf!" Inuyasha growled at the demon, who just looked over his shoulder with a disinterested stare. "Back off from Kagome!"

"I don't have to listen to you!" Kouga growled back at him. "She's my woman! You're just guarding her."

"She ain't your woman!" the hanyou snapped at Kouga.

Kouga ignored him, though, when he spotted the newer faces. "Who are they?" he asked Kagome, pointing towards the two visible demons. "And why do I smell a bat around here?"

"That would be Ulquiorra up there," Nel replied, pointing above her. "He's not afraid to start a fight with you or anything, but I don't think he wants to risk it with humans around. Oh! I'm Neliel, by the way. Though I prefer Nel! That's Grimmjow!" She pointed towards the panther demon glaring at Kouga.

Grimmjow admitted to himself before that he was developing some sort of feelings for Kagome, but meeting this wolf demon that claimed her without her consent was throwing his instincts into overdrive. Though they weren't mated and Kagome wasn't marked, Grimmjow was already starting to hate the wolf demon in front of him for calling Kagome 'his woman' when he shouldn't because she said 'no'. The thought of her ending up with the wolf drove him crazy, but he couldn't let it show otherwise they would get curious.

"A panther demon?" Kouga noted before looking towards Inuyasha with a glare. "What the hell are you thinking letting a panther demon near MY Kagome?"

"Ask her!" Inuyasha shouted back at him, pointing towards the miko. "She's the one who invited him!"

"Grimmjow saved my life and we trust him," Kagome stated before Kouga could yell at Inuyasha some more. "Don't give him such a hard time, Kouga. He may not be harmless, but he hasn't done anything to hurt us."

Kouga looked towards her before glaring at Grimmjow. "Listen here, cat," he growled. "Kagome's my woman. You better not do anything to hurt her!"

"As far as I know, she's fair game," Grimmjow commented, grinning when he noticed it was getting a reaction from the wolf. "She isn't marked or claimed. All you have is your word and nothing more. She ain't your mate and as far as she cares, she ain't your woman either. Maybe if you shut up and sit down, you would know instead of ignoring her like any good potential mate would. She obviously doesn't like being called your woman. She ain't a slab of meat you can just grab and say 'mine'."

"Wolves," Ulquiorra sighed from above. "So barbaric. They think they can claim anything."

"I heard that, stinking bat!" Kouga yelled up to the tree.

"Kouga!" Kagome yelled at him. "That was rude! Apologize to Ulquiorra!"

"I can't apologize to him!" Kouga almost whined. Almost. "He's a bat!"

"No wonder everyone back home says vampires and werewolves hate each other," Kagome grumbled under her breath, earning a couple of amused looks. "They got it from wolf and bat demons."

"Is that bat traveling with you to?" Kouga exclaimed, pointed towards the tree Ulquiorra was comfortably occupying.

"Actually, Ulquiorra and Nel just visit sometimes," Shippo replied. "Nnoitra and Tesla only do when we're in Nnoitra's territory."

"Paranoid mantis," Grimmjow grumbled.

Kouga just looked at the miko curiously before sighing with a shrug of his shoulders. "Oh well," he said. "By the way, you guys wouldn't happen to at least know which direction Naraku probably is, would you?"

"You could try asking Kagura," Inuyasha suggested with a smirk. Let the crazy, oversized, pink bird mess around with the flea-bitten wolf and pump him full of poisons. Make his day better. "We know where she is.

"Don't even think about it," Nel sighed. "Szayel has Kagura and she won't talk. And you don't know their exact location. Szayel could be anywhere on his mountain."

"Sorry, Kouga, but we don't even have a hint on Naraku's whereabouts," Kagome answered the wolf's earlier question. "Have you found anything out?"

"I thought I saw Kanna walking around in the east with a bundle of some sort that smelled like Naraku," the wolf demon replied. Grimmjow and Nel looked up at him as soon as he said 'east'. "I tried to follow her, but the eastern pack of wolf demons wouldn't let me through."

"Think Naraku bribed them?" Sango asked.

"Wolves only listen to their Alpha," Inuyasha stated with a scoff. "Just like any other canine."

"And I couldn't get to their Alpha," Kouga grumbled.

"I will investigate," Ulquiorra said before he shot from the tree and flew east.

Kagome looked towards Grimmjow, surprised when she saw a smirk on his lips. "Starrk," he said. "Wolf demon that will go walking around disguised as a human, or will just be sleeping all day. He's lazy, but he's powerful and he's the Alpha of the eastern wolves. I doubt Naraku bribed them. Starrk doesn't listen to anybody real well. If Naraku's east, he's there without Starrk knowing it."

"Is Starrk like Nnoitra in attitude?" Shippo asked from his spot in Nel's lap.

Nel and Grimmjow looked at him with blank gazes. "You kidding?" the panther replied.

"Starrk rarely fights against anyone since he doesn't like putting too much effort into anything," Nel sighed with a shake of her head. "But once he starts fighting, you better hope you're on his side."

"How long until that bat gets back?" Kouga impatiently asked.

"Ulquiorra's fast, so I give him midday tomorrow at the latest," Nel chirped before her face went solemn. "Unless Starrk's fast asleep. Then tomorrow evening if Ulquiorra can't wake him up."

**I'm sorry if I bashed Inuyasha, but that's just what I think about his attitude. Anyway, next chapter, we'll find out if Naraku's east or not. Maybe. I'm trying to speed through the Feudal Era so I can get to the modern time and mess around there. Plz review! ^^**


	5. Chapter 5

**Well I'm glad everyone likes the story so far! ^^ all the reviews make me feel so warm and fuzzy inside! And I know that I'm bringing in more Espada than Inuyasha characters, but I want Kagome to have a bond with some of them before she has to go back to her own time. Anyway, enjoy the new chapter and I may bring in another Inuyasha character because I feel like I've been neglecting him. Actually we'll tune into him briefly before we go to Ulquiorra and finally the gang. Oops, did I spoil?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or Bleach. Wish I could –pout-**

****

Golden eyes looked towards the stars after a new scent blew to him in the wind. A large bird flew above him, but Sesshomaru paid it no mind. Though what was a pink bird doing around these parts?

"Lord Sesshomaru?" the cheerful voice of his ward called to him. He turned to look at her. "Should we make camp here tonight?"

"Quiet, Rin!" Jaken yelled at the human child with his scratchy voice. "Do not ask Lord Sesshomaru such ridiculous things!"

"I was just asking!" Rin explained.

"He doesn't have to answer to the likes of you!" Jaken continued to yell at her.

"Jaken," Sesshomaru sharply spoke.

"You see, Rin!" the imp taunted the child before turning to the inu-taiyoukai. "Yes, my lord?"

"Shut up," the Western Lord ordered, ignoring Jaken's crest-fallen expression. "Rin, if you wish to rest, then you may."

"Thank you, my lord!" Rin chirped as he dismounted Ah-Un.

"Stay close to Ah-Un, Rin," Sesshomaru said, looking around. Wolf territory. Though he wasn't the Lord of the East, the wolves wouldn't attack a more powerful canine such as himself. But if he left his ward for even a second, they would probably attack her, even though his two-headed dragon wouldn't let any harm come to the child. But he was here for a reason.

The scent of Naraku was in the East. He needed to get information from the wolves, but the one he needed to get information from was a lazy bastard. He would never deny it, either.

The sound of wings met his ears before he once again looked upwards to see a bat demon flying towards the den of the wolves. Suicidal bat or a familiar acquaintance? He didn't know, nor did he care.

"Lord Sesshomaru?" Jaken warily spoke, bringing a smirk onto Sesshomaru's lips before it disappeared. The imp learned well, but not well enough. "Isn't this wolf territory?"

"I do not have to answer to you, Jaken," the taiyoukai coldly pointed out.

"Yes, my lord!" Jaken suddenly shrieked before bowing deeply. "My apologies!"

"If you speak any louder, the wolves will know we are here," Sesshomaru stated, colder than before. Jaken remained silent.

**12345678987654321**

The wolf demons below spread from their small grouping in front of the cave that provided to be their den before Ulquiorra landed within the circle of canines. "Where is Starrk?" he asked calmly, but the wolves could feel that he wanted to get things over and done with.

Though Starrk was stronger than Ulquiorra, Ulquiorra was strong enough to take out the whole pack. Besides, their Alpha respected the bat, so they did as well for fear of Starrk's unknown anger and Ulquiorra's strength.

"I'll get that lazy bum!" someone cheerfully exclaimed before a young girl with light green hair and violet eyes jumped down from the boulder she sat on and ran into the den, yelling Starrk's name repeatedly. Ulquiorra barely had enough time to nod to her before she ran inside. Lilinette was a young coyote, but she was the only one to ever get away with anything when it concerned the Alpha. She was an abandoned cub and he took her in as his own, though many doubted he was father material and they weren't the same breed of canine.

A yell echoed from inside before Lilinette came running out, giggling like mad as she placed herself back on her original spot. Ulquiorra just shook his head a couple times before a tall man with wavy brown hair and tired brown eyes stepped out, dressed in only a pair of hakamas with fur along the sides. "Whatever the reason you woke me up is, Lilinette, it better be important," the Alpha wolf grumbled before noticing Ulquiorra standing there with his arms crossed and amusement dancing in his eyes. "Ulquiorra?"

"Hello, Starrk," Ulquiorra greeted.

Starrk sighed gently as he sat down on a nearby boulder. "I feel like this isn't a casual visit," Starrk grumbled. "What's going on?"

"There is a demon in your territory," Ulquiorra pointed out. "A spider demon that was once a half-breed, but rejected his human heart and is now hiding it somewhere. This spider demon is a threat to life anywhere."

"Are you exaggerating or are you serious?"

"I am serious," the bat demon growled. "Another wolf demon came into your territory early today following the scent of the spider demon. He saw someone that works under this demon and when he tried to follow her, your pack stopped him."

"Why are you after this spider?" Starrk asked, raising an eyebrow. "You don't seem the type to get involved into anything unless you got a reason."

Ulquiorra was silent for a moment. "Grimmjow is traveling with a pack that is after the spider demon," he stated. "Do not ask me why, but I believe he has an interest in the young woman that is within that pack."

"Grimmjow getting a mate," Starrk chuckled, shaking his head slowly as though the thought was ridiculous. "I don't know if the spider demon is around here or not. But I have noticed a strange scent around as well as a girl holding a still pup. The girl's pale, dressed in white, and has white hair but black eyes. I couldn't see the pup, but if that's the reason why you're here, than I can't really help out."

"I'll be sure to let the others know," Ulquiorra said as he turned around.

"Why not stay the night?" the wolf Alpha suggested with a wave of his hand. "I mean, you make the journey here only to ask a couple questions and fly back? Why not rest a bit or something? I doubt the guys you're getting information for are going to move by dawn."

Ulquiorra thought for a bit before looking at his wings then the horizon. His wings were starting to ache mildly from the flight that took about an hour. He would have to leave early, but he was an early-riser anyway. "Very well," he accepted with a nod. "If you and your pack don't mind having a bat in your den."

"Wouldn't have offered if I did mind," Starrk pointed out as he got up and headed back into the cave. Ulquiorra followed after him before Lilinette jumped down from her boulder once again and went after the two.

**12345678987654321**

Grimmjow rolled his eyes as he heard Inuyasha leave as soon as the scent of death and dirt entered the campsite. Leaving the sleeping pack alone like that. He couldn't believe it and growled lightly under his breath. Apparently, the sleeping miko bundled up in the sleeping bag next to him wasn't as asleep as he thought she was. "He's going to see Kikyo, isn't he?" she quietly asked.

"Does it hurt knowing that?" he replied.

She didn't move or speak for a moment. "Not as much as it used to," she said. She rolled over gently so not to disturb the slumbering kit next to her in the sleeping bag and looked over at the panther. "You're angry."

The demon knew it wasn't a question. "An Alpha doesn't leave the pack like that," he stated. "He shouldn't. So yeah, I'm mad."

"You think you would make a better Alpha?" she asked.

He smirked slightly. "Felines prefer the terms 'pride' and 'king', but yeah," he chuckled. "I'm only using dog terms so he knows what I'm talking about. Something tells me his brain capacity can't translate feline words into canine, so I'm sparing him the humiliation."

"Aren't you noble," Kagome joked.

Grimmjow playfully grinned as he tilted his head back. "Yeah, I am, ain't I?" he joked back before Kagome giggled for a second then fell silent.

"Hey, Grimmjow?" Kagome softly spoke. The panther gave a low hum in response. "You don't have anything against Naraku. You barely knew us. So why did you decide to travel with us?"

He was silent for a moment before looking down at her. "I'm looking at the reason," he said. Kagome stared back at him in confusion. "If you were another human, any other human, I would have just let that boar kill you then kill him myself. But there was something about you, something that made my instincts scream at me to protect, so I did. I guess as time went on, my instincts calmed down some, but my heart won't let me leave now. I'm confused about it, but I think I'm getting feelings for you."

Kagome was silent from his small confession, and a part of him feared rejection. He would never admit, but he was scared that maybe he was wrong about the miko in some of his observations and that even though she got along with demons, she didn't want to be bound to one in any way other than friendship. He turned his head to the side to avoid a direct blow, but he knew it would still hurt.

He heard her slowly moving out of her sleeping bag before her hand was on his chin, pulling him to face her again. She was right in front of him, dressed in her strange yellow clothes she called pajamas, and gave him a small peck on the lips. "I think I'm falling for you, too," she told him. "But I may need a little more time to fully love you."

"I'll wait," he told her with a smirk before giving her another small kiss. "Go back to sleep. Something tells me we'll be traveling a long time tomorrow."

"And hopefully find a hot spring close to our next campsite," Kagome sighed as she got back into the sleeping bag.

"I'm sure there will be," Grimmjow chuckled.

"Are we going east tomorrow?" the miko asked him.

Grimmjow shrugged his shoulders. "Depends on what Ulquiorra says, I guess," he replied. "If not, we'll go to Szayel."

"Okay," Kagome yawned. "Good night, Grimmjow."

"Night," the panther replied. A few minutes passed and soon Kagome's even breathing met his ears.

His teal eyes looked around as he waited for the hanyou to return from his nightly visitor, though knew that it was pointless since he would probably return early morning. It wasn't the first time he's disappeared since Grimmjow joined the group, and he knew it wouldn't be the last. Every time he left, he was back before the others woke. Still, he kept an eye out so he could at least get some sleep. He didn't feel comfortable sleeping while everyone else was since there was no one to keep an eye out.

With a sigh, he tilted his head back and stared through the gap in the canopy above them at the night sky. Mildly cloudy with bright stars and a bright half-moon. The temperature was moderate and the breeze gentle with a cooling touch to it. He liked these kinds of nights. Calm, peaceful, and quiet. A cat could really sleep well on nights like this.

He closed his eyes with a silent sigh and fell into a light slumber. Deep enough for him to get some rest, but light enough that if anyone approached, he would be awake in a snap and ready for a fight. A soft rustling met his ears hours later. He cracked an eye open to see Inuyasha had returned and was sitting on the branch like he never left in the first place. "Moron," he mumbled under his breath, smirking when he heard a growl in response. He continued his light sleep until dawn when the hanyou started yelling for everyone to wake up so they could leave.

"Morning," Kagome yawned.

"Too early of a morning," Grimmjow pointed out. "You sleep okay?"

"Yeah," the miko replied, stretching her arms above her head as Inuyasha practically ordered everyone to hurry up. "Sit!" He fell to the ground. "We need a moment to actually wake up, Inuyasha! People don't like being woken up so rudely! It leaves us in a bad mood!"

"Whatever," Inuyasha scoffed, getting back up.

Shippo yawned loudly with his mouth as wide as it could get. "Man, I feel like I didn't get enough sleep last night," he complained, his head dropping before he quickly picked it back up.

"If you want to sleep some more, Shippo, I'll carry you," Kagome offered, grabbing her clothes. "Just let me get changed first."

"Don't even think about it, monk," Grimmjow growled when Miroku stared at Kagome with interest.

"Why Grimmjow!" Miroku dramatically gasped. "Do you honestly think I would spy on Lady Kagome while she changed?"

"Yeah, I do," the panther replied with a smirk as Kagome walked a few trees away to change. Miroku pouted. The panther rolled his eyes as Shippo climbed into his lap and curled up. Most demons would be amazed by the sight since Shippo is a canine and Grimmjow is a feline, but Grimmjow himself had grown used to the young fox climbing onto him.

Kagome came back from the trees, but not dressed in her usual outfit. She wore a pair of thin blue slacks that hugged her legs and a white shirt with sleeves that went to her elbows and had a small v-dip up front that didn't go down very far. "What?" she asked, seeing the incredulous look she was getting. "I have more clothes than my school uniform. I just usually wear it because I can move around easier."

"But it also shows too much," Grimmjow pointed out as he picked the still waking Shippo up before he rose to his feet.

"I can't help it if the school uniform looks like that," Kagome grumbled under her breath. Grimmjow just chuckled.

"Come on!" Inuyasha yelled out. "Let's get going already!"

"Hold it for a second," Grimmjow growled at him. "Ulquiorra's close."

"We don't have time to wait for that bat!"

"I think we do because if Starrk says that Naraku ain't in his territory, then he's somewhere else and probably won't be moving anytime soon since he's found a pretty good hiding spot," the panther stated. "Besides, Ulquiorra's almost here."

Before Inuyasha could argue any further, the bat gracefully landed in front of the group. "Starrk has not seen the half-breed," he immediately started. "But he has seen a young girl dressed in white with white hair and black eyes carrying around a babe."

"Kanna," Sango identified. "But why would she be carrying around a child?"

"Maybe it's Naraku's human heart he casted aside or another incarnation he's waiting for to grow," Miroku stated, crossing his arms over his chest. "Should we look into it? If it is Naraku's human heart and we destroy it, we won't have to look for Naraku since it would kill him."

"We would still have to know where Naraku is in order to get the Shikon," Inuyasha pointed out. "Otherwise another demon will pick it up."

"Well," Grimmjow sighed heavily. "If you guys wanna find the girl, I'll see if I can get anything out of the wind demoness."

"You're going to Szayel?" Ulquiorra asked, tilting his head to the side. "You do realize he's still mad at you and Nnoitra for tossing his newest batch of poisons off the edge of the cliffs."

"Hey!" the panther complained. "He threatened us with those! And that was over three months ago! Why's he still pissed?"

"Because the herbs for those poisons are seasonal and won't grow until next year."

Grimmjow didn't know what to say to that. He just didn't. But it did explain a lot.

"You shouldn't go by yourself, Grimmjow," Kagome said. "I'll go with you."

"Nah," Grimmjow declined. "Not to see Szayel. He sees you, he sees a new victim."

"Well we will just have to convince that I'm not," Kagome determinedly stated.

"I'll come, too!" Shippo declared.

Grimmjow sighed, ignoring the look he was getting from Ulquiorra. "Thanks, Ulquiorra," he said. The bat nodded once before disappearing into the morning shadows of the forest. "Fine, you two can come with. But you gotta do as I say, alright? Szayel's crazy and I don't want him getting his hands on you."

"Alright," Kagome and Shippo agreed.

"Then we'll head east and see if we can find Kanna," Miroku stated.

"If you run into Starrk or the eastern wolves, just tell them that you're friends of mine," Grimmjow said. "They should leave you alone then."

"Is there a village somewhere in between the two locations?" Sango asked.

"Yeah," the panther replied. "It's small, mostly farm land, but it's right in the middle."

"Then we should meet up there once we're done," Kagome suggested. "Good luck, guys."

"You too," Sango said with a nod.

"Kagome," Inuyasha called. The miko blinked at him a couple times before going over. Grimmjow glared at the hanyou. "I still don't trust that guy," he told her once she was close enough to him for only her to hear him. "Be careful."

"He won't hurt me," Kagome said knowingly. "But I appreciate your concern."

"I mean it," he growled lowly. "Panther demons can't be trusted. And you're too trusting."

"He hasn't given us a reason not to trust him," Kagome pointed out before going back over to Grimmjow. "Alright! Let's go!"

Grimmjow nodded before wrapping an arm around her waist and leaping into the trees at a pace faster than Kagome ever experienced. Even Inuyasha never traveled this fast when he carried her.

**12345678987654321**

She wasn't sure how long they traveled or how far, but they were close to the mountain by mid-afternoon. Once they reached the base, he placed her down. "Stay close to me," he told her.

"Okay," she replied, nodding once.

After about an hour of silence, walking up the mountain trail, Shippo decided to break the quiet. "Hey, Grimmjow?" the kit called, bringing the older demon's attention to him. "I just wanna ask something. Where are you really from?"

Grimmjow stared at the kit. "I was born here," he replied. "My sister Toran was born a few years after me, so her name fitted in more in this country than mine does."

"What about your mom and dad?" Shippo continued asking.

The panther sighed. "There was a war going on then," he said. "Between demons and humans. My father was one of the generals and my mother was a healer. When he found out she was pregnant with me, he sent her as well as other pregnant women here since he thought it was safer."

"So your parents are from the far east?" Kagome asked.

"Very far east," Grimmjow replied.

"Do you know if your father is still alive or not?" the miko softly spoke.

Grimmjow scoffed. "He's dead," he stated. "If he was alive, my mother wouldn't have mated with an ice panther and had my younger sister. Like most demons, panther demons mate for life. Kind of. If a mate dies, then we find another one if we want one at all."

"So whose mothers came here?" Shippo asked.

"Mine, Ulquiorra's, Nnoitra's, Tesla's, Starrk's when she was pregnant with another cub and he just went along with her since he was still young, Nel's, Szayel's, and a few others I haven't seen for a while. It's the reason why we're so close."

"And why you're so different?" Kagome added.

Grimmjow chuckled lightly as he smirked. "Most demons here only have a human form and a demon form, right?" he said, getting nods in response. "Well we actually got three forms. Human form, demon form, and hybrid form. Ulquiorra walks around in his hybrid form just because the wings are useful for him to travel. Nel's also in hybrid form because she can move faster and fight better. It's how her mother taught her. Unless needed, the rest of us walk around in human form. Kagome, you saw my hybrid form."

The miko nodded, thinking back to the armor-plated form Grimmjow was in when they first met. She thought that was his weird demon form, but it was only one form of his.

"What happened to your mother?" Kagome warily asked.

"Dead," the demon replied with a shrug. "All of them are. Ulquiorra's mother died trying to protect him from other bat demons. He got away, but the other bats were pretty pissed and to add insult to injury, they raped her before killing her. Bastards. And Ulquiorra saw it all, even if the bats didn't see him."

"That's why he's so distant," Kagome murmured.

"Yep. Tesla's mom died giving birth to him, so Nnoitra's mother took him in when she already had Nnoitra to look after. That's why you can't find one without the other. They were raised together. Tesla's younger and looks up to Nnoitra for protection and Nnoitra doesn't want Tesla out of his sight. He just shows mistreatment because he doesn't want anyone to use Tesla against him. It's his way of protecting him. Anyway, Nnoitra's mother was killed by monks. Apparently the village wasn't safe with a female mantis that has a human form running around so close to it. If they knew about Nnoitra and Tesla, those two wouldn't be here. But she hid them when she sensed the monks coming to their home."

"I thought Nnoitra was a lot older than Tesla," Shippo commented.

Grimmjow shook his head. "It's probably because of his height or strength," he stated. "Anyway, Nel's mother died in a rockslide caused by another demon that was annoyed with her. Actually, the demon tried to get Nel in order to hurt her mother, but her mother got to her in time to protect her from the boulders, but was crushed."

"How sad," Kagome said, bringing a finger to her mouth. "But she always acts so cheerful."

"Because it's how her mother wanted her to be," Grimmjow pointed out. "She always told Nel that if anything happened to her, she wasn't to lose herself in grief. She was to keep living her life to the fullest. So she does."

"What about the others?" Shippo egged on.

"Starrk's mom committed suicide when she lost the cub she was carrying," Grimmjow scoffed. "She just completely forgot all about him. He was taken in by the eastern wolves and eventually became the Alpha, even though he is pretty damn lazy. Then he found Lilinette, a coyote pup who was abandoned by her parents. Don't know why, but he took her in.

"Szayel's mother, the one he got his phoenix youkai half from, was killed by a dragon youkai when he was young. Actually, she was killed on this mountain and he buried her here. It's why he doesn't want to leave it and why he tortures anyone who comes close. He's looking for that dragon while seeing which poison he could use that would affect it the most. I think he also has a brother running around somewhere, but he's a different species of demon. I think Szayel's mother just took that guy in because she was always way too nice for her own good and he was completely alone. You know, we've know each other all our lives and we have no clue what Szayel's father is. Even his hybrid form doesn't show any phoenix, despite his demon form being a bird."

"And your mom?" Kagome asked.

"Let's just say her second mate wasn't exactly happy with the fact that she kept me even though I wasn't his," he stated.

"He didn't!" Shippo gasped. "Why would he?"

"Like I said," Grimmjow shrugged. "I'm not his. He wanted me gone or dead, but she wouldn't let him do either. So he killed her and I killed him. End of story."

"What about your sister?" Kagome asked.

"I don't know where the hell she is," he scoffed. "Last I checked, she and her pride stole some Shikon shards and were gonna sacrifice villagers in order to resurrect the Panther Lord or something like. She wanted me to join her. I wanted nothing to do with it." Kagome and Shippo uneasily looked at each other. "Run into them before?"

"Yeah," they replied.

He hummed slightly. "Okay, enough about me and the guys," he said. "What about you two?"

"Well," Kagome began after a moment of silence. "As you know, I live in the future. My family owns the shrine that will be built around the Bone-Eater's Well eventually from this time period. I live with my mom, little brother, and grandfather."

"What about your father?" Grimmjow asked.

"He died from a sickness when I was eight," the miko replied lowly.

"What about the rest of them?"

"Well my mom is always looking out for everyone," Kagome said with a small smile. "She does what she can to make things easier for us. She was the one who taught me how to cook and fixed my clothes whenever I got home from this time. When I just need a shoulder to cry on, she was there and let me cry on her however long I needed.

"My brother acts all tough, but he's really has a soft heart and is a really sweet kid. He's actually kind of shy, but he tries hard when there's something he feels like he needs to do. He could always make me laugh, even when I sometimes get annoyed with him.

"Grandpa is kind of crazy, saying everything around us is full of history and keeps trying to tell us whatever that history is. He throws paper sutras that don't even work on anything and anyone and yells out 'demon' constantly. He also keeps making up sickness for when I'm not in school. But I love him, despite all that."

"Sounds like you got quite a family," Grimmjow commented.

"Yeah," Kagome sighed. "I wouldn't wish for any other."

"What about you, kit?" Grimmjow asked. "Got anything you wanna share?"

Shippo shook his head. "I barely remember my mama," he stated. "Papa never told me much about her. I think it hurt him when he thought about her. But he always tried to hide it from me and made sure I knew how to take care of myself for when I get older and taught me all of my tricks! He made sure I ate enough to stay healthy and kept getting me toys to keep me happy. Then he found shards of the Shikon and the Thunder Brothers killed him and stole his fur. He hid me before that happened so they wouldn't find me." He let out a small sniffle, wiping his face a little when he felt moisture.

"But then I found Inuyasha and Kagome!" he chirped. "They didn't need to help me, but they did, even though I did steal the shards from them. I decided I wanted to stay with them and never regretted it. Then Miroku joined and things got kind of funny, especially with him getting in playful arguments with Inuyasha and getting slapped by Kagome every time he touched her. And finally, Sango joined us! I like to think of all of them as my new family! And you're included in it, too, Grimmjow."

"Oh really?" the panther chuckled, ruffling the kit's hair a little bit. "What's Kagome to you then?"

Shippo blushed slightly. "She's my new mama," he quietly said.

"Aw, Shippo!" Kagome chimed, hugging him close to her. "Why didn't you tell me before?"

"I didn't think you would want to be my okaa-san," the younger demon hesitantly replied.

"I would be honored if you called me your mother, Shippo!"

"Really?" Shippo asked incredulously.

"Yep!" Kagome chirped, still holding the kit close to her.

"Then can I call Grimmjow my new otou-san?" he asked, looking towards the now stuttering panther. Kagome giggled at his expense. "You seem to be more of a fatherly figure than Inuyasha, Grimmjow. And I know you two like each other!"

"Ah," Grimmjow sighed slightly. "Sure. Why not?"

"Aw," someone cooed. "Such a cute little family, though strange."

The two stopped walking as Shippo jumped up onto Kagome's shoulders. Grimmjow rolled his eyes before calling out, "Szayel, get down here. We got questions."

A petite man with shoulder-length pink hair and golden eyes dressed in a tan yukata leapt down from the trees, landing on the balls of his feet gracefully. "I never thought I'd see you with a flock, Grimmjow," the mixed demon chuckled. "Much less a flock that has a miko."

"You still have that wind demoness?" Grimmjow asked straight out.

"Of course," Szayel replied. "She's not dead yet and she can't die unless her heart is crushed. I almost feel bad testing my poisons on her. If only I can make a poison that affects her pancreas only. If I can shut that down, then all her other organs will shut down as well and she'll be dead."

"Well we need her alive to ask her questions," Grimmjow stated, crossing his arms over his chest.

Szayel hummed. "Oh, yes I was told about that," he stated. "But she won't talk, nor can she without dying before she can say a word. And with these insects I can't seem to get rid of, it makes it difficult." He pointed upwards where a loud buzzing sound was heard before a large wasp flew over them. "She said he uses those to watch anything anywhere. Stalker!" Kagome giggled behind her hand slightly. He wasn't as creepy as Grimmjow made him out to be, but he was pretty talkative. "So who are these two?"

Grimmjow didn't answer him, but Kagome introduced herself, "I'm Kagome and this is Shippo."

"Even think about touching either of them-" Grimmjow began to warn before Szayel waved his hand.

"And I'll be dead meat, yes, yes," the avian sighed. "Never thought of you as a family type, Grimmjow."

"Shut up," he scoffed. "Where's the woman?"

"Kagura?" Szayel asked, tilting his head slightly. "Why, she's right in the middle of the mountain. Unfortunately, so are those insects. No matter how many I destroy, they keep coming back. Honestly, you would think that if I didn't keep my mountain clean, I would have a hive somewhere around here. But they keep coming from the south so I know I don't have a hive around here."

"The south?" Kagome repeated. "We've been heading the wrong direction this whole time."

"Maybe they're coming from the south, but he may not be south," Grimmjow pointed out. "He could be sending them south, then east or west, and then send them north to this point. Or he could be sending them to either direction, then south, then to the opposite direction, and finally back here."

"I'm confused," Shippo groaned.

"Me too," Kagome stated with a nod. "Can we see Kagura?" she hesitantly asked,

"How sensitive is your stomach?" was the avian's response. "Because if it is really sensitive, you may not want to see her at all. I do give her some food and water, but because she can't die, I have cut her open in a few spots and they haven't healed yet."

"Can I just close my eyes?" Shippo whispered, burying his face into his new mother's hair.

"I'm sure we can handle it," Kagome unsurely told Szayel, trying to hide her uneasiness. How bad was Kagura?

"Very well," Szayel sighed with a heave of his shoulders. "Come along, then. There's an entrance about half a mile from here and it won't take us long to get to her. Watch your step, though."

****

**Well there are the little check ins with other characters and all that neat fun stuff. Next chapter, we'll get to see Kagura. And I hope no one has a sensitive stomach or is squeamish. Actually, I think I won't describe it all that well. Maybe. -Evil cackle-**

**And before anyone says anything, I know that Starrk and Lilinette are the same person split into two bodies when they were Hollows, but this story is different so deal with it! Also, I know Starrk doesn't really have any animal features and looks more like a guy from the Old West in his release form, but with the cero wolves, I couldn't help it. Lol.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Yay! So many reviews and so many people like this story! I feel so luvd! Here's a new chapter for everyone and thank you for being patient with me! I also decided not to be too graphic about Kagura's current condition, but I gave a basic description.**

**Also, one thing: EXPLICIT CONTENT IN CHAPTER! WILL BE A LEMON! I WILL SAY WHEN THE LEMON STARTS AND WHEN IT ENDS SO YOU CAN SKIP AHEAD OF IT IF YOU LIKE! And the lemon may not even be that good, i'****m more used to yaoi lemons...leave me alone! **

**Disclaimer: Don't own Bleach or Inuyasha (goes and cries in corner) **

When they reached the cave, Szayel yanked a flower from the ground by the entry. Seeing the confused looks from the other three, he smirked. "If you burn it, the smoke will kill insects," he stated. "I keep using it to get rid of those wasps, but more and more keep coming. By the time the next batch comes around, we should have enough information."

"How long would that be?" Grimmjow asked.

Szayel glanced at him before heading in. "Not very long," he replied. "As soon as the insects inside are dead, get as much information as you can. I found out she will talk when the insects aren't around." He continued leading them through his mountain until he stopped and looked around a corner of the caves. He told them to stay put before walking over to the still form that was breathing raggedly and lighting the flower on fire. Smoke drifted upwards towards the insects before they all fell to the ground dead. "Alright!" he called out over his shoulder before Grimmjow and Kagome made their way towards them. Shippo had his face buried into Kagome's chest, not wanting to see Kagura's condition. It was a good thing he did.

Kagura was worse than Kagome thought. She wasn't skinnier than she used to be, probably because Szayel made sure she ate and drank. But she had deep gashes on her arms and legs, as well as a healing gap on her chest, showing her chest cavity, ribs and muscle. There was also skin missing on her neck and stomach that showed nearly every muscle and organ underneath, though it looked to be healing with many herbs on the injuries. Even her trachea was exposed! All that was covering her breast and lower half were what was left of her kimono. Under her was a blood-stained blanket. Her eyes were tightly shut as she continue to breathe shakily. When she cracked open her eyes, Kagome could still see the burning pride the wind demoness possessed.

"Hey," Szayel whispered, running a hand through her hair. "Need some more pain killers?"

"I don't know why you bother," she growled at him.

"Because I pity you, why do you think I stopped pumping you full of poisons?"

"It would be best if you just let me die," she commented through her teeth.

Szayel sighed with a shake of his head before looking at Grimmjow and Kagome. "Ask what you want quickly," he told them. "I'm going to get her some pain killers. You don't have long until the smoke clears out and the next batch of bugs comes flying in, so make it quick."

He stood and walked off as Kagome made her way over to the wind demoness after handing Shippo over to Grimmjow and kneeled down beside her. "Kagura?" Kagome softly called to her.

Kagura's red eyes completely opened slowly and glared at her. "What are you doing here?" she growled.

"We wanted to ask some questions about Naraku," Kagome replied.

Kagura chuckled weakly. "He casted out his human heart," she said as Szayel returned with some herbs in his hand. "In doing so, he threw his entire heart from his body, like he did with me. He hid it with Kanna. If you destroy the baby in her arms, you destroy his heart and kill him."

"The girl was spotted in the East," Grimmjow pointed out.

"Naraku won't be far, then," Kagura stated, looking towards the panther. "He stays close to it so he can make sure it isn't destroyed. Normally he's as far away from it as he can get, but he needs it to be protected. Kanna can't set up her barrier without her mirror, which Naraku has because she can't carry it while holding onto his heart. He uses it to see through the eyes of the Saimyosho**(SP?)**."

"The smoke's clearing," Szayel suddenly said as he crushed the herbs together and then spread them over Kagura's open wounds.

"Is Naraku in the east?" Kagome asked.

"He is where his heart is," the wind demoness stated. "If his heart is in the north, he's north. If it's east, he's east. He stays close so he can distract people wanting to kill him long enough for Kanna to move his heart to safety. As long as his heart is safe, he can piece his body back together."

"You're being pretty cooperative about this," Grimmjow commented, leaning against the wall.

"If I give you information about Naraku, it will help you defeat him. You defeat him, he will die and I will be as free as the wind…like I should have always been."

Buzzing soon filled the silence of the cavern. "Back in the cave, now!" Szayel ordered the two. Grimmjow grabbed Kagome by the arm and pulled her to her feet then back towards the cave hall, out of sight. Not long after, the insects filled the area once again. He sighed, looking down at Kagura. "How badly do you want to die?" he asked.

"I want to either be free or dead than under his command," Kagura replied with a slight growl.

Szayel shook his head. "He took your heart, but not your pancreas," Szayel commented, earning a small look from Kagura. "My mother, when back in the far west helped the healers a lot with antidotes and made poisons to put on the blades of the warriors. Before she died, she taught me all she could about the body, it's organs, and functions. I can inject a poison that will stop your pancreas from working, which will in turn shut own all your other organs. It may not reach your heart, but you won't feel any pain, you won't breath, even your blood will stop flowing.

"Do you want to do that?" he asked.

Kagura thought for a second before nodding her head.

"I'll be back in a little while with the necessary herbs then," the avian said softly as he got to his feet.

Grimmjow already lead Kagome halfway down the cave hall before Szayel caught up with them. "You're going to kill her?" he asked as Kagome took Shippo from him.

"No choice," he replied. "I am responsible for her injuries and he won't let her die. Either she dies or he dies. She told me little bits of information about him ever time I clear out the insects. She said that he hides behind demon puppets and barriers, fights a coward's fight. It would be better for her to die now than wait for him to crush her heart."

"Keep her alive as long as you can!" Kagome suddenly exclaimed. Szayel blinked at her in confusion. "We're going to find Naraku and make him pay for hurting the innocent! For hurting everyone! We're going to find him and kill him! Just don't kill Kagura. She didn't ask to serve under him, she wasn't given a choice."

"I gave her this choice," the avian pointed out. "She said she would rather be free or dead than under him."

"Then make her wait a little while longer," Kagome told him. "Tell her that I promise she will be free soon. You just keep her alive and heal her wounds!"

Slightly stunned, he glanced at Grimmjow, who just shrugged at him while looking in the opposite direction, then back at the strange miko who managed to capture the heart of the most violent panther he ever met. She was a strange one, he had to admit. He knew from Kagura's talks whenever he got rid of the insects that the group this miko traveled with were her enemies because of actions she was ordered to do. Yet here was this miko, Kagome, that was practically ordering him to heal Kagura and keep her alive as long as he could until Naraku was gone.

He couldn't help the small smirk that met his lips. "Very well, then," he said. "I'll tell her your promise and I shall heal her the best I can." Kagome smiled brightly at him. "I must admit, Grimmjow, you definitely can catch the interesting ones."

"What's that supposed to mean?" the panther growled at him.

"Nothing!" Szayel chirped with a grin on his face before patting Shippo on the head. "Hope next time we meet, kit, we could talk a little bit."

Shippo removed his face from Kagome chest to look at the avian demon and nodded. "Okay," he said.

"Now I suggest you leave the mountain as fast as you can before those insects manage to see you, thus allowing that half-breed to see you as well," the pink-haired demon stated, crossing his arms over his chest. "Good luck. And if you need anything, don't hesitate to come here and ask or send me a message someway."

"Will do," Grimmjow said with a lazy wave of his hand.

"I'm still mad at you," Szayel huffed as the three left. Grimmjow barely flinched.

**12345678987654321**

"This is pointless," Inuyasha grumbled as they continued their search through the eastern mountains. It only made sense that Naraku would hide in the mountains, after all, because of the numerous caverns that ran through them. It would be easy for him to hide. "We can't keep looking around like this! We won't get anywhere!"

"You can't even locate Kanna's scent?" Miroku asked incredibly.

"All I can smell is wolf!" Inuyasha exclaimed in frustration. "The scent of wolves is all over the place!"

"Then we're probably close to the eastern pack," Sango sighed. "Even if we say we're friends of Grimmjow's," she ignored Inuyasha's growling at the panther demon's name, "I don't think they'll let us look around their territory that much. Kouga may be an exception, but wolf demons aren't very trusting."

Miroku nodded in agreement before looking up at the sky. "We should probably head to that village now and see if Grimmjow, Kagome, and Shippo managed to get anything from Kagura," he stated. "We can search again tomorrow when everyone is together. Three noses are better than one, Inuyasha."

"Three?" Inuyasha repeated.

"Yours, Grimmjow's, and Shippo's," he explained.

"We don't need that damn cat and Shippo doesn't know how to sort out scents!" Inuyasha growled, clenching his fist as Miroku turned around and walked off.

"One would think you feel threatened by Grimmjow," Sango joked, turned and followed Miroku. "Let's get to that village. We can start searching again tomorrow."

Inuyasha growled, but followed the demon slayer and monk, eventually getting in front of them a little bit. He wouldn't admit it, but his inner demon was threatened by the panther. Both of them were leaders, used to being in charge. Inuyasha was used to being in charge of a pack and Grimmjow was used to being in charge of something much larger: his territory. Putting two alphas in one pack generally led to challenges which led to cracks being made in the pack.

Inuyasha had been in charge of this pack since it was just him and Kagome. Even if it was only the two of them, she was his pack. Then Shippo joined, making Inuyasha's pack larger and making him remind the kit who was in charge. He had to do the same thing when Sango and Miroku joined, but not as harshly as he did with Shippo. They were only human, after all. They would not understand.

Grimmjow still needed to learn, but was so used to being in charge that it was making things difficult for Inuyasha. He constantly tried to show the panther who was the alpha, but all the cat did was fight against him and eventually _his_ pack listen to _Grimmjow_! Things didn't work out that way! He would have to take care of the panther eventually and show him who was in charge of this pack.

When they made it to the farm village, they were surprised when Kagome ran up to them and told them that they had a room at the inn. Inuyasha was a little surprised that Kagome was alone. A village that was mostly farming such as this one left too many openings for demons to come in and snatch unsuspecting prey. He mentally smirked. That cat always got on his ass about leaving the pack at night and here he was leaving Kagome alone in a village that a demon could sneak into and take someone without anyone else noticing.

When they got back to the inn, Grimmjow was laying on his back in the room with Shippo curled up and asleep by his side. "Hey," he greeted when the four came in.

"You know a demon could have snatched her while she was waiting for us and no one would notice, right?" Inuyasha mocked him.

Grimmjow shook his head. "Nnoitra pretty much named this group untouchable, meaning no demon is to touch any one of us while we're in his territory," the panther stated, rolling his head to the side. "Ulquiorra did the same thing. She wouldn't have been taken without pissing those two off."

Inuyasha growled under his breath and sat as far as he could get from the panther. He would still teach him, only later.

"So did you manage to get anything from Kagura?" Sango asked, sitting next to Kagome, who was next to Grimmjow.

"Yeah," the miko replied. "She said Naraku cast out his heart, so if we destroy that, we kill Naraku. Kanna is suppose to have it, but she doesn't have her mirror so she can't make her own barrier. Naraku stays close to her so if anyone tries to get rid of his heart, he can move in and give Kanna enough time to go somewhere else."

"And she said that he's in the east," Grimmjow added. "He won't stray far from his heart. Where this Kanna is, he won't be too far behind."

"So Kanna has Naraku's heart," Sango repeated. "And he's east. The question is where in the east is he?"

"The scent of wolves is all over the place," Inuyasha pointed out. "I can't track Kanna's or Naraku's scent."

"Then get a wolf," Grimmjow scoffed like it was the most obvious thing. "It's their territory. If there's an unfamiliar scent, they would notice it right away. They can smell the scent of everything but their own. Geez, don't you got an ookami friend? What's his name again…Kouga?"

"What about your friend Starrk?" Kagome asked.

"Bastard's too lazy," he grumbled before snapping his fingers. "But Lilinette, on the other hand…"

"Lilinette?" Shippo repeated, waking up from his nap long enough to hear the last half of the conversation.

"That coyote pup Starrk took in that I mentioned earlier," Grimmjow replied. "If anyone can get Starrk off his lazy ass, it's her. Or we could just borrow her long enough to point us in the right direction."

"We're taking directions from a pup?" Inuyasha scoffed. "Might as well try on our own."

"Lilinette can look past the scent of wolves as well as any wolf demon could," Grimmjow pointed out, sitting up and crossing his legs. "She was raised in the area, after all. She is too used to the scent of wolves to even notice it anymore. So either we get her to point us in the right direction or we try to get Starrk off his lazy ass. Personally, getting Lilinette would be easier."

"Should we go and get her tomorrow, then?" Kagome asked.

"I can actually get to her tonight and be back later on," the panther stated. "I just gotta tell her what is going on, she'll look around, and when we go out to look tomorrow, she would find us and tell us where to go."

"That easy?" Miroku said, raising an eyebrow.

"That easy," Grimmjow confirmed with a smirk as he got to his feet. "I'll be back in a little while. Might as well get that bath you were wishing for lately while you can, Kagome."

She watched him leave the room, closing the sliding door behind him. With a small sigh, she went over to her bag and started to search through it. "Sango," she called when she pulled out her towel, shampoo, conditioner, and pajamas. "Wanna join me for a bath?"

"Of course!" Sango replied with a small smile.

"I'll stay here and make sure Miroku doesn't try to peek, mama!" Shippo proclaimed, earning a few confused looks.

"Thank you, Shippo," Kagome giggled. "Come on, Sango! I looked around before you guys showed up! They have a hot spring for a bath!"

"Alright, alright," Sango laughed with the miko, getting to her feet and placing Hirakotsu near Kagome's bag then following the happy teenager. "Spill," she told the younger girl when they were down the hall.

"About what?" Kagome asked.

"Why did Shippo call you his mother?" Sango replied with her own question.

"Oh!" Kagome chirped. "He told me he considers me as his mother and asked if he could call me that. I told him he could and that I love him like he was my son. He calls you and Miroku his aunt and uncle, you know."

"What about Inuyasha and Grimmjow?" Sango asked as Kagome slide open a door revealing an average sized hot spring lined with large rocks and a bamboo wall in the middle of it reaching to the top of the room.

"I don't know what he thinks of Inuyasha as," Kagome replied. "He didn't say. But he asked Grimmjow if he could call him his father."

Sango gaped at the teen that started to undress to get into the hot spring. "He asked if he could call Grimmjow his father?" Sango repeated.

"Yeah," Kagome replied, stepping into the warm water and sitting down in it.

"That's so strange," the demon slayer commented as she started to undress as well and joined the miko in the water. "I thought he would consider Inuyasha as his new father since he's known him so much longer."

Kagome hummed a little bit.

"There's something else, isn't there?" Sango pressed on.

"Well," Kagome sighed. She could always tell Sango anything and the demon slayer she loved as a sister would always understand her. "Don't tell anyone, but I think I'm in love with Grimmjow."

"You haven't known him that long and I thought you loved Inuyasha," Sango pointed out.

"I thought I loved Inuyasha, too," the teen said with a low sigh. "But I found out that I only love him like I would an annoying older brother. Grimmjow is different, though. He makes me feel so safe and he always makes me feel better when I'm upset about something. He sees me as me, unlike Inuyasha who only sees me as Kikyo's copy. Grimmjow even told me that he loves me, too."

Sango stared at her with a soft gaze. "I hope he takes care of you, Kagome," she said. "You deserve to have a guy like that."

"So do you," Kagome stated with a small smile. "When are you and Miroku going to get together?"

Sango blushed and started to stutter. "Kagome!" she exclaimed. "I don't have any feelings for that perverted monk! Besides, even if I did, he wouldn't have any feelings for me!"

"But he does!" Kagome argued.

"If he did, then he wouldn't keep flirting with other women and asking them to bear his children!"

"I can tell Miroku likes you, Sango," Kagome told her, smirking. "I just wanna know when you two are going to confess to each other."

"Maybe when Naraku is gone," Sango huffed. "Maybe when he stops being such a pervert." Kagome closed her eyes with a sigh and slowly shook her head. They finished washing up and dried, getting dressed before leaving the hot spring and going back to the room to let the boys know that they could go ahead and wash up if they wanted. It didn't really surprise Kagome that much that Grimmjow wasn't back yet. Who knew how far away the wolf den was or how long it would take Grimmjow to explain and get back?

Not long after Inuyasha, Miroku, and Shippo returned was dinner made and eaten. Still no Grimmjow and Kagome was starting to worry. She knew he was used to being alone and could take care of himself, but she couldn't help but worry. While everyone else slept, she was too anxious to close her eyes for three seconds. She looked around about an hour later to make sure everyone was asleep, then grabbed a couple of towels and went back to the hot spring.

"Maybe the warm water can help me relax enough to go to sleep," she sighed to herself as she entered the room with the hot spring, turning to close the door behind her.

"What are you doing up?" someone asked, making her jump and turn around from the door. There was Grimmjow in the water, everything below his shoulders submerged.

"Grimmjow!" Kagome exclaimed. "I was getting worried about you."

"Sorry," he said, sinking a little further into the water until it was up to his chin then ran his soaked hands through his blue hair. "Didn't want to wake anyone up, so I came in here to wait until everyone was really asleep. You know you didn't answer my question."

"Oh," she gasped. "I couldn't sleep. Thought the water could help me relax."

He let out a low hum. "Plenty of room," he groaned, stretching his arms above his head. Kagome couldn't help but blush. His arms and chest were muscled nicely, not bulging but not hidden either. Thankfully the water was a bit murky so she couldn't see anything below his chest. "And there's a wall right in the middle of this thing. I won't look."

She smiled at him as his eyelids slid closed, going to the other side of the room until she couldn't see him past the wall. She trusted him not to look, but she was too embarrassed to just undress in front of him. As soon as she was undressed, she wrapped one of her towels around her body that reached from her breasts to her thighs and slid into the warm water.

"What kept you up?" Grimmjow's voice drifted to her ears.

"I just couldn't sleep," Kagome replied, not wanting to tell him her worry for him was what keeping her awake.

"You know I'm a big boy, right?" he joked. Kagome could hear him smirking. "I've been on my own for years. I can take care of myself."

"I know that!" the miko stated. "I never said you were the reason I couldn't sleep."

"But it's obvious," he chuckled. "You did say you were worried about me and you couldn't sleep. Put two and two together."

Kagome just shook her head. "So did you find your friend?" she asked.

"Yeah, got Lilinette," he replied with a sigh. "She said she has found a weird scent earlier today and was going to check it out tonight. Starrk may be lazy, but he wouldn't let her go anywhere that has a weird scent alone. She thought it would be better to sneak out when everyone was asleep."

"Hopefully we can find Naraku tomorrow and end it all," she said, leaning her head against a small boulder. She heard movement in the water on the other side then wet footsteps coming her way until they stopped and a hand was placed on her shoulder. Looking up, she as Grimmjow sitting on top of the boulder behind her, his wet hakamas clinging to his skin while water trailed from the fabric and down the boulder. "What was the point of me coming over here if you were going to?" she joked.

"Wouldn't have if you didn't say what you said," he stated, removing his hand before sliding into the water next to her. He noticed she had a towel wrapped around her and saw a second, dry one not too far away. "I know you have been in a lot of battles, probably in quite a few major ones. Haven't you notice something about every battle, though?"

Kagome thought for a moment before shaking her head slowly.

"There is always a loss," he stated. "Whether from one side or the other or even both, there is always a loss. Enemy. Friend. It doesn't matter in battles."

Silent for a minute, Kagome let out a low sigh. "We've been lucky so far," she pointed out. "We have had injuries, but we've always pulled through. Even when everyone but Inuyasha and Shippo were poisoned, we pulled through."

"Luck, whether good or bad, eventually ends," the panther said in a low tone. "Kagome, you will have to acknowledge it at some point. The sooner, the better. When you battle against Naraku, not everyone may make it."

The miko took a shaky breath. "I know," she stated. "But if we kill him, their lives wouldn't have been in vain."

Grimmjow stared at her for a moment. She knew the risks and was still willing to go to battle against Naraku. She knew one, if not many, of her friends probably won't make it after the battle, yet she was still going to fight. He leaned over and buried his face into her neck, leaving soft kisses along the side of her throat while nipping every now and again. She moaned, tilting her hand back some to allow him to continue on the rest of her bare neck.

**LEMON! LEMON! LEMON! LEMON!**

"If we do manage to find and fight him tomorrow, if neither of us make it…" He didn't finish, knowing Kagome could figure out what he was asking.

"Yes," she replied to his unasked question. He placed his lips upon hers and kissed her deeply, wrapped an arm around her waist with one hand while the other slipped under the towel. She gasped lightly, allowing Grimmjow to dart his tongue into her mouth. Their tongues danced as Kagome's hand gripped at his hair while her other ran up and down his bare chest. Grimmjow let out a throaty growl then removed Kagome's towel from her form.

"Are you sure?" he asked, his lips barely a centimeter away from hers. "There is no going back from this. If I take you, you are forever mine. My mate until one of us dies."

"I won't regret this," she told him, pressing her forehead to his. "I love you, Grimmjow. I wouldn't want to spend the rest of my life with anyone else. I will stay with you, even if I have to say goodbye to my family."

He kissed her again. "My lovely Kagome," he murmured possessively, gripping at her left breast with one hand while his other lifted her up out of the water high enough for her breast to be above the surface. He smirked at the sight of her nipples that hardened from being brought out of hot water to cool air. He bent his head towards, using his hand to lift Kagome's breast before taking it into his mouth and suckling on it like a newborn. She arched into him and moaned loudly, the hand in his hair gripping tighter as her other hand placed itself over his shoulder. Kagome could feel his hardness rubbing against her inner thigh, still covered by wet clothing.

She was nervous. She would admit it quite easily. This would be her first time, but knew she would not regret it, just like she told him. Many of her schoolmates that had given up their first time eventually did regret it. She often heard them talking about sex between classes while she was home and trying to pay attention to her friends. She had a right to be nervous.

Grimmjow thrusting his hips into hers brought her out of her thoughts, making her gasp loudly as he ran his tongue over the breast he was sucking on and kissed his way to the other to give it just as much attention. One of his hands was under her arm, pressed up against the boulder at the edge of the hot spring. She felt the other under her right leg, making it wrap around his waist. She slipped her hand down from his hair and shoulder and ran bother down his chest, arching her chest into him. He groaned slightly as she traced random lines on his chest, rubbing against his own nubs every now and then.

His mouth left her breast and attached to her lips once again, his body pressing hers against the boulder before his other hand went into the water and slid in between her legs. Her hands were already at the waistband of his hakamas. She pulled them down until she felt his member spring up from it's binding and pulled the hakamas down a little further. She wasn't sure what to do, but let her hands do what they wanted to do. It was like she had no control over her own body, like her body was functioning all on its own.

One of her hands wrapped around his cock, making him growl pleasurably, while the other played with his balls. He let out another throaty growl, sucking on her neck again as his gently slid a finger into her entrance. He had to admit, being in water for this was better than being on the ground, but he doubted the owners of the inn would appreciate a pair mating in their hot spring.

With that thought in mind, his finger quickly withdrew. Kagome groaned displeasingly. He just chuckled before wrapping her legs around his waist again and bringing her hands to his shoulders. One hand on her lower back, he pulled them both out of the water and onto the dry ground behind the boulders.

"There we go," he chuckled, eyeing her bruised lips. "Much better."

Kagome pushed against his chest, earning a confused look from the panther demon. Was she already regretting it? He rose up until he was just on his knees between her long legs. She didn't do what he thought she would do and instead pulled his hakamas down until they were at his knees then he kicked the soaked clothing off. He laid her back down and wrapped her leg around his waist while nibbling on her neck.

She moaned softly, her hands once again in his hair as his hand went back to its previous spot and slid a finger back into her. She gasped and moaned loudly. "Grimmjow," she groaned out as his finger rubbed her inner walls. He then slipped in his second finger and started scissoring her entrance. She gasped again, arching into him. Barely two minutes later, Grimmjow gently forced a third finger into her.

Kissing her deeply, he moved his finger inside of her, preparing her for something they both knew was bigger than his three fingers. She started thrusting her hips in rhythm with his fingers, making him pull back and smirk coyly. "Someone is pretty eager," he purred, rubbing her head with his own as he chuckled lightly. "And pretty wet in there, too."

"Please stop teasing," she managed to beg.

Grimmjow's smirk fell for a moment. He was only teasing to give her a little more time to figure out if she truly did want to mate with him or not. She could have asked him to stop at anytime and he would.

"Are you sure?" he whispered into her ear. "Like I said, this isn't something you can take back."

"I don't want to take it back," she groaned as he removed his fingers. "Please, Grimmjow. I want you."

He let out a low rumble from his chest before positioning himself between her legs, his tip pressing against her passage. "This may hurt for a moment," he warned her. "Let me know when to move."

She nodded only once before he pushed in, making her gasp and let out a nearly silent scream. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders, nails digging into his flesh and he buried himself deeper inside of her. He stopped as soon as he was completely sheathed inside of her hot passage, nearly purring from the feeling of being one with his soon-to-be mate. They had to finish for him to rightfully claim her as his mate. He lowered himself onto his elbows, nuzzling her cheek soothingly as he waited for her to adjust. A small tear slid down from her eyes, a tear he licked away before kissing her softly.

Eventually, he felt her move her hips then freeze for a second before moving again. "Want me to move?" he asked with a playful smirk.

"Yes, please!" she panted.

He nodded and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling out of her until only his tip was left in then thrusted back into her. Her back arched again as she gasped loudly. He repeated the action, speeding up each time until she started moving with him, in perfect tempo. He sat back up onto his knees and pulled her up as well so she was straddling him as he continued to thrust into her.

Kagome held onto him tighter, moaning as his speed quickened. Both his arms stayed around her waist as she bounced on his cock. "Oh, Grimmjow!" she gasped. "You're so –ah- big! More! Ah-h-harder! Faster! Oh Kami, please!"

"Who am I to deny you?" he groaned, leaning against the boulders with his legs bent and her still riding him. He lifted her up and brought her back down faster than she was bouncing herself. He could feel himself ready to explode. He could tell she was close as well since her passage was tightening around him. He pulled her closer to himself and kissed her once again, their tongues intertwining instead of dancing like before.

She left out a final yell of his name as she tightened around him, signaling her climax while encouraging his own. He thrusted into her a couple more times before growling her name possessively and emptying his load into her.

**End Lemon! End Lemon! End Lemon!**

She collapsed against him, her head laying on Grimmjow's chest as they waited for their high to pass and for their breath to return. "Not something you can take back," he told her again. "I really hope you don't regret it."

"I already told you," Kagome said, looking up at him. "I won't regret this."

"Good," he chuckled, looking back down at her with a smile. "You know this won't be our little secret for long, right?"

"What do you mean?" she groaned tiredly, burying her face into his chest.

"I mean that Inuyasha and Shippo will probably smell me all over you tomorrow," he pointed out. "Maybe even when we get back to the room."

"Shippo won't mind and Inuyasha can deal," she mumbled. Grimmjow couldn't hold back the laugh that escaped him.

**That's a long chapter… anyway, I hope the lemon was okay, my first time writing a lemon between a guy and girl. I've practiced for yaoi pairings, but not for hentai pairings. I'm already imagining Inuyasha's and every else's reaction to this. **

**And what shall happen next chapter? **

**Remember, I am only speeding along like this because I want to get to Kagome's time with all the other Bleach characters and such. Mess around with Aizen's head for a while and make his Espada rebellious. Not a spoiler, just a thought.**

**So plz review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Glad everyone liked the last chapter. Now to see how every reacts to Grimmjow and Kagome being a official couple!**

**Disclaimer: don't own Bleach or Inuyasha…sadly…I go cry in corner now…**

****

Kagome woke underneath her open and upside-down sleeping bag dressed in her pajamas. Confused, she looked around for a moment. Sango was sleeping not too far away with Kirara in her large form curled up into a ball behind her. Shippo was on the demon cat, snoring lightly. Miroku and Inuyasha were leaning against separate walls with their chins tucked down to their chests, each holding their own weapons. Grimmjow was laying behind her with an arm over her waist in nothing but his hakamas under her sleeping bag with her.

She rolled over and wrapped an arm around his neck, earning a soft sigh from the 'slumbering' panther before he nuzzled the top of her head gently. "Morning," he whispered.

"Morning," she replied. "Sorry if I woke you up."

"I wake up at the crack of dawn," Grimmjow chuckled as he sat up and stretched his arms behind his back before shaking his head a couple times. Seeing her confused expression, he ruffled his hair up. "I didn't think you would like to spend the night down there, so I dressed you in your weird clothes, got dressed myself, and brought you back here."

"Oh, thanks," she said, sitting up.

"Don't know about this thing, though," he said, pulling her bra out from under the sleeping bag with a smirk. Kagome blushed brightly, grabbing it from the laughing panther's hand.

"Pervert," the miko muttered.

"Weren't complaining last night," he pointed out with a singsong tone. "You know they are gonna find out. From what I've seen, that mutt has a temper."

Kagome sighed with a shrug of her shoulders. There was no denying Inuyasha infamous anger. "I'm going to go and get dressed," she said, grabbing some clean clothes from her bag not too far away. "Be back in a little while. Don't try to provoke him into any fights if he wakes up before I get back."

"No promises," Grimmjow told her. "If he yells at me for it, no matter whether I stay quiet or act like Ulquiorra, he will get pissed. I won't provoke him, but he might provoke me by saying something stupid. I'm sure you've noticed he says some pretty stupid shit when he gets mad."

"Yeah, I've noticed," she replied as she left the room. She tried to change as fast as she could and get back, but knew she didn't make it in time when Shippo came running to her on her way back to the room saying Inuyasha and Grimmjow was fighting. Kagome quickly picked her adopted kit up and ran back to the room, seeing Inuyasha being held back by Miroku and Sango while Kirara held back Grimmjow by knocking him to the ground and keeping her front paws on his back. She saw that while Inuyasha didn't have a mark on him, Grimmjow's chin was starting to bruise.

The panther struggled to get back up, growling darkly while glaring at Inuyasha, who was trying to shake Sango and Miroku off of him without hurting the two. "How dare you fucking touch her!" Inuyasha yelled at the panther. "You have no right to touch her!"

"Fuck you!" Grimmjow snarled. "She's my mate! What right do you have to tell me what I can and can't do with MY mate?"

"Kagome ain't your damn mate!"

"Of course she is!" Grimmjow said with a smirk. "You're just upset that you didn't get her. I was under the impression that you were that undead wench's mate seeing as you go to her whenever she calls and fuck her out in the open like a wild animal."

"Bastard!" Inuyasha snapped at him. "Kagome is mine!"

"She ain't a possession you can claim without her consent!" Grimmjow yelled. "I asked her and she was fine with being my mate! You don't lay claim on her and expect her to obey! She ain't that kind of woman! Of course, I guess that's how you like your women. You want them to lay down and listen to you. Too bad."

Inuyasha growled loudly before noticing Kagome in the doorway. "I can't believe you!" he yelled at her, bringing attention to the stunned miko. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"I love him, that's what I was thinking," Kagome told him firmly. "I thought I loved you, but I realized that I only love you like an annoying older brother. If you don't consider me as a sibling, oh well. But I love Grimmjow and he loves me."

"He's fucking using you!" he snapped at her. "You're just too stupid to notice!"

A snarl broke Inuyasha's rant from Kagome to Grimmjow to see the panther getting out from under the demon cat's paws and charging his way. Sango and Miroku barely had time to get out of the way before Inuyasha was grabbed by his throat and slammed into the wall behind him. "That's one thing I can't stand about you dogs!" Grimmjow growled. "No respect for anyone but yourselves. You dogs don't even respect your own mates. Well here's something you should keep in mind, mutt! You will not insult or disrespect my mate! If you do, consider yourself dead!"

"Grimmjow, stop it!" Kagome cried out, handing Shippo to Sango before wrapping her arms around Grimmjow's waist.

"He disrespected you!" he pointed out loudly.

"I don't care," she told him in a low voice. "Just stop fighting."

His eyes softened slowly before he released his grip on Inuyasha's neck, letting the hanyou fall to the floor with a grunt while Grimmjow buried his nose into Kagome's hair. "Sorry," he said. "Just to let you know, I didn't provoke him."

"Get away from her, bastard!" Inuyasha growled.

Grimmjow growled back, baring his fangs towards the half-demon. "You don't give me orders, half breed!" he snarled. "I don't care if you think you're stronger or that you deserve respect just because you're the head of the pack. You haven't earned my respect. I doubt you ever will. I may listen to you IF you somehow manage to gain my respect. But until then, like hell I would listen to your orders."

Inuyasha jumped to his feet and placed a hand on Tetsusaiga. "I've had enough of your fucking attitude, cat!" he snarled. "Let's settle this here and now!"

"You really are stupid and irrational, you know," Grimmjow scoffed. "You don't think at all. HERE in an inn? NOW where we are in a small space surrounded by innocent bystanders? How about outside somewhere far away from this village?"

"Fine," the hanyou growled, stomping out of the inn.

Kagome held onto Grimmjow a little tighter, showing her discomfort about the two fighting. The panther sighed gently. "We're both leaders, 'Gome," he told her. "We're both used to being leaders. If this isn't settled sooner, it will only get worse."

"I don't want you two to fight," she whispered lowly.

"It has to be done to end our constant quarrels," the demon reluctantly informed his distressed mate.

Sango placed a hand on Kagome's shoulder. "Demons do this all the time, Kagome," she said. "It's how they establish who is leader. It would be best to just let them fight it out. They won't kill each other, just prove who is in charge."

"It would be over quickly," Miroku assured her. "And neither of them will be hurt!"

"Badly," Grimmjow added, earning a look from the monk. "Just saying."

"We could watch and make sure they don't kill each other," Shippo suggested. "But my father told me that these fights can get pretty bad sometimes and no one knows how far they could go. Like he said there was a fight between the former leader of the Northern Fox tribe and a newcomer. The fight went from one side of the territory to the western mountains."

"I doubt we'll go that far," Grimmjow scoffed, rubbing the back of his head. "Where's my haori?" Kagome snickered and started to giggle lightly at the uncaring question. He did find his haori eventually (hiding behind Kagome's bag) and after putting it on and placing his katana at his waist, he went outside. Once they were out of the inn, the panther demon looked towards the four. "If you see a young girl with green hair and purple eyes, it's Lilinette. Just let her know what's going on and tell her who you are. She'll tell you what she found out."

The four nodded before Kirara picked up the two women and carried them over to a hill not too far away. Miroku ran after them with Grimmjow next to him. "Kagome hates seeing those she loves fight each other," the monk told him. "I know how bad these Leader fights tend to get. This fight will make her very uneasy."

"I'll try not to kill him," Grimmjow said. "But no promises. He's pretty pissed. Just make sure no one tries to get into it, especially Kagome. She doesn't understand the ways of demons. I don't want her getting hurt because of our fight."

"Sango and I both will make sure she stays out of it," Miroku promised with a nod of his head.

Grimmjow nodded back before a falling tree caught his attention. "Get going. The mutt ain't happy or patient." Before Miroku could say anything, Grimmjow sprinted away from him and towards the direction of the continuously falling trees were. When Grimmjow reached his destination, Inuyasha already had Tetsusaiga out and was glaring at him darkly. "No weapons, only brute strength," Grimmjow said. "Fighting with weapons just isn't as much fun."

"Fine!" Inuyasha scoffed. "I don't need Tetsusaiga to kick your sorry ass!" He sheathed his sword then removed it, tossing it to the side. "I will make you pay for touching Kagome."

"You make it sound like I forced her," Grimmjow commented. "I asked her and she agreed. Don't know why you keep making a big deal out of it. It's not like you loved her like I do. You only love that undead whore you rut every night. You only see Kagome as that wench."

"Doesn't matter," Inuyasha said with a smirk. "Kagome is MINE!"

"She's MY mate!" Grimmjow snarled before lunging towards him. Inuyasha didn't have time to dodge before his side was kicked hard enough to throw him into a tree. "And I've had enough of your bullshit, mutt."

Kirara landed on the closest hill to the fighting pair, but made sure it was far enough that they wouldn't get hit with stray attacks. Sango and Kagome both slid off the large demon cat, Shippo remained on her head. "I'm really worried," the young kitsune commented with a frown. "Grimmjow's strong, but I've never seen Inuyasha this mad before. He attacked Grimmjow as soon as he caught your scent on him, okaa-san."

Kagome reached up and grabbed her adopted son from the demon cat's head and cuddled him into her chest. "I hope this ends soon," the miko sighed, tucking her head downward. "I hate having to see them fight." She looked up in time to see Miroku running up to them.

"Grimmjow seems pretty confident about this," the monk chuckled. "He said he won't kill Inuyasha. But Kagome, there is something you have to know about this. When demons fight for dominance like this, the fights can turn disastrous. No matter what, you have to stay out of it. If you run into it when you want it to stop, one of them (if not both) could hurt you badly, probably nearly kill you. You have to stay out of this fight."

The miko solemnly nodded her head in understanding, hoping that neither of the two would end up hurting themselves.

"What's going on down there?" they heard someone ask before turning around quickly to see a girl, probably not even a teenager yet, with bright green hair and light purple eyes. She wore armor over her chest with tuffs of dark brown fur at the bottom of it and on her shoulders, as well as a black fur skirt that reached to her knees. There were also black fur on her arms reaching from her wrist to her elbows. "Ah, it's Grimmjow. Getting into a fight."

"Are you Lilinette?" Sango asked cautiously.

"Yeah," the girl replied. "And you are?"

"I'm Sango, this is Kagome, Miroku, and Shippo," the demon slayer introduced.

Lilinette lifted an eyebrow before sniffing at the air. "And you're Grimmjow's mate?" she asked, looking towards Kagome, who nodded. "Let me guess again. That guy he's fighting down there wasn't too happy about it so now they're having a fight either over you or over being the Alpha."

"Probably both," Shippo said as he and Kagome looked back towards the fight in time to see Grimmjow thrown to the ground, rolling over before Inuyasha tried to claw at him.

The young girl let out a small hum. "Man, what the guys would give to see this," she giggled with a smile. "So who do I talk to? Grimmjow's busy, so I doubt him."

"If you don't mind, you could tell us," Miroku replied when he saw that Kagome wasn't going to answer, too engrossed in the fight happening about a mile from their location.

"Alright then," Lilinette sighed, placing her hands on her hips. "Grimmjow told me that there's some kind of weird demon in the east and that they can't find his scent under the scent of the wolf pack. I managed to find the scent and followed it to the mountains north-east of the den. It was actually pretty close to the castle ruins that used to belong to the Raven Lord."

"Raven Lord?" Sango repeated in confusion.

"Yeah, he used to be a tyrant when he was alive," the young girl replied. "Forced slaves to build his castle and when the Eastern Lord defeated him, the slaves burnt it. I never got a close look of it or heard about all the crap he did. Starrk wouldn't let me. But I tracked the scent to the area where the castle ruins were before it just disappeared."

"Naraku must have put up a barrier to block his scent," Miroku thought out loud. "Thank you for helping us."

"No problem," Lilinette said with a smirk and a wave of her hand. "Just tell Grimmjow we're even now so don't ask me for anymore favors." She looked over to the miko and sighed softly, walking over to her before placing a hand on her arm. Kagome looked down at her. "I just want you to know, Grimmjow can handle himself and I'm sure the guy he's fighting can as well. They probably won't kill each other, but worrying over them won't help any. Just make sure you're ready to fix them up once a winner is decided." As soon as she was done speaking, she turned and ran back into the forest.

Kagome, Sango, and Miroku turned their attention back to the fight not long after the girl left. Sango and Miroku realized they missed quite a bit when they were listening to Lilinette. Inuyasha had lost his fire-rat haori and his white undershirt was stained with blood that appeared to be coming from his shoulder. Blood was dripping from his claws as well. Grimmjow, to their surprise, looked as though he was covered with armor. His feet were feline, as was the shape of his legs, his hands and claws black, and his hair grew out to his thin, whip-like tail that protruded from his lower back. He had a long cut from his upper leg to his knee, but it didn't seem to bother him.

The two lunged at each other again. Inuyasha attempted to slash at Grimmjow's neck, but the panther dodged and kicked the hanyou in the face. Inuyasha flew back, skidding on the ground before finally stopping himself and getting back up. Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth as a bruise formed on the left side of his face. Grimmjow didn't give him much time as he shot towards Inuyasha and slashed his claws in the air. Inuyasha jumped back before the claws hit him, or so he thought until his haori ripped and three thin cuts bled from his chest.

Grimmjow smirked, rushing towards Inuyasha before his knee dug into the hanyou's stomach, throwing him back even further. Inuyasha just barely recovered in time to dodge Grimmjow's next attack, a swift kick to his head that probably would have made him dizzy for a moment if it struck. He leapt into the air to dodge a punch that left a crater on the ground where he once stood. For a moment, he lost sight of the panther when the large dust cloud shot up into the air thanks to the punch. A silver and blue blur caught his attention. He looked over his shoulder and was punched in the back, forcing him to go back to the ground.

Inuyasha groaned, pushing himself back up before he was forced down again by a foot pressing down on his back. "You're too used to others rolling over and showing their stomachs to you," Grimmjow taunted. "You're out of shape. You can't hope to defeat me. Might as well give up."

"Fuck you!" Inuyasha growled at him, managing to roll over and knock the panther off balance temporarily. Grimmjow spun around to avoid Inuyasha's next blow and kicked the hanyou when he tried to get back up.

"Then I guess I gotta end this fast," Grimmjow muttered, feeling his injured leg twitching momentarily. He dodged Inuyasha's punch but when he moved to the side, the hanyou quickly buried his claws into the panther demon's shoulder. Grimmjow yelled out, grabbing Inuyasha by the wrist and yanking him away before pressing a hand to his shoulder to slow the bleeding. Until the bleeding did slow, all he could do was dodge or attack with his legs.

Inuyasha smirked, seeing it as an opening and a weakness, then charged towards Grimmjow. His hand slashed through the air, cutting off a few hairs that didn't get out of the way in time when Grimmjow ducked down. Placed one hand on the ground, Grimmjow spun around and knocked the hanyou onto his back then climbed over him, pressing down on Inuyasha's neck with his knee.

"Last chance," Grimmjow growled. "It's obvious who is stronger. Stand down."

The hanyou threw a fist upwards and punched Grimmjow's left cheek hard enough to knock the panther off of him. Grimmjow staggered for a moment, but regained his balance before Inuyasha got to his feet and ran towards him. Grimmjow ducked the claws that came at him again and quickly stepped behind Inuyasha. He kicked his back before the hanyou had time to realize what Grimmjow was doing.

Instead of going to the ground like Grimmjow expected the attack to do to him, the hanyou snapped around and punched him in the face again, letting his claws leave a few cuts on him. Before Inuyasha pulled his fist back, Grimmjow grabbed him by the wrist and threw him over his shoulder then slammed him into a tree, releasing him to fall to the ground. Inuyasha got on his hands and knees, glaring at Grimmjow as blood dripped from his mouth.

Grimmjow stared at him blankly before looking towards the hill where the others were. "This is bothering her," Grimmjow commented, staring directly at his mate then to Inuyasha. "You must really enjoy hurting her like this. She doesn't want us to fight but you had to go and challenge me."

"Why didn't you turn it down then if you care so much?" Inuyasha scoffed, getting back to his feet but holding himself up with one hand on the tree next to him to keep him from falling.

"Because if I turned your challenge down, you would either keep trying to fight with me or would call me a coward," Grimmjow replied with a glare. "Either way, we would end up fighting anyway. Might as well get it over with now. I suggest surrendering."

"Make me," Inuyasha growled, surprising the panther for a moment. The hanyou was practically changing before his eyes. Thin, jagged purple lines were forming on his cheeks as the white of his eyes turned red while the purple dilated. Grimmjow knew what was happening. Inuyasha wasn't the first half-demon he encountered before. He knew that the demon blood in him was overpowering the human and there would be no way to calm him down. None that he knew of, yet.

Either Inuyasha snapped out of it himself or got a hold on something that were suppress his demon blood. Grimmjow's eyes traveled to the Tetsusaiga. The hanyou kept it with him at all times, even when he was a human. He didn't understand, but maybe it could suppress the demon blood in Inuyasha. He'd have to knock him out first, though, and that would be the challenge.

The two shot towards each other again, but Grimmjow easily read Inuyasha's movements now that he was in a demon blood rage. He dodged every clawed hand trying to slash at him, every punch thrown, and even managed to get a few kicks and punches in as well. When he dodged another punch, Grimmjow straightened his hand flat then swiftly struck the back of Inuyasha's neck. The hanyou was stunned for a moment, giving Grimmjow enough time to kick him in the stomach then grab his throat and push him to the ground.

He kept his hand on the thrashing hanyou's throat, tightening it gradually. The thrashes started to weaken until Inuyasha stilled. Grimmjow knew he didn't choke the half-demon to death, just until he fell unconscious. He reverted back to his human form then went over to the Tetsusaiga. He reached down the pick it up, but was stopped by a small hand on his arm. He turned his head to see the others had come down from their spot, probably headed down when they saw him choking Inuyasha.

"It has a barrier on it," Kagome explained, picking the sword up. "Full demons can't touch it without getting hurt."

Grimmjow nodded once in understanding before his mate went over and placed the sword by Inuyasha and started to pull out different items from a metal white box to treat the knocked out half-demon. Grimmjow just next to her, waiting for her to finish.

Shippo jumped into his lap and stared up at him. "I've never seen Inuyasha beaten so quickly," the kitsune commented. "I knew you were stronger than him, but not that much."

"His movements were easy to read," Grimmjow sighed, rubbing his forehead slightly. "I didn't beat him up too badly, did I?" he asked cheekily, grinning at his miko who just slapped his arm playfully. "Just asking!"

**12345678987654321**

When Inuyasha woke, he immediately realized that he had lost the fight. Grimmjow would be acknowledged as the leader of the pack now. There was nothing he could do about the panther being Kagome's mate either, not that there was anything to do about it other than prove he was stronger and more worthy. That plan had failed.

"How are you feeling?" someone asked him. He tilted his head to see it was Kagome.

"Why's it matter!" he scoffed, turning his head the other direction. A low growl met his ears but he ignored it, knowing it was Grimmjow.

Kagome ignored his snap and checked his injuries, not surprised that they were mostly healed. Grimmjow didn't leave deep injuries on him but did leave quite a few fading bruises. "As soon as you're healed, we should go to the north-east mountains and locate the Raven Lord's castle," Grimmjow stated. "Lilinette tracked the guy's scent to the caste ruins then lost it, according to these four."

"We said that she told us it disappeared," Kagome corrected. "Sango and Miroku already went up ahead to check things out. They should be back soon. And in case you are curious, Inuyasha, it's nearly noon."

"I wasn't," Inuyasha grumbled.

Grimmjow glared at the hanyou before placing a hand on Kagome's shoulder. "'Gome, why don't you go outside for a bit," he said. "I don't wanna make you worry, but I can't hear Shippo close by. And I need to talk to this guy for a minute." Seeing his mate was about to say something, he cut her off. "I won't hurt him anymore than he already is. I promise."

With a soft sigh and a nod of her head, Kagome got up and walked out of the hut. As soon as she was out, Grimmjow turned to glare at the hanyou laying on the floor. "I already told you before, you won't disrespect or insult my mate," he growled. Inuyasha glared defiantly at him. "Maybe you've been in charge too long, puppy. I guess I should remind you that I won the fight. You aren't in charge anymore. Deal with it."

He rose and left the hut, pretending not to hear Inuyasha's growling in favor of searching for his mate and adopted cub. He located them not too far away. Shippo was showing his tricks to some village children and Kagome was barely three strides from him with a smile on her face. He made his way over without her noticing him and wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder.

"Sorry," he said.

"What for?" Kagome asked, looking at him curiously.

"The fight," Grimmjow replied, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. "I know you didn't want us to, but it was bound to happen."

"I know," his mate sighed heavily, rubbing her upper arms. "I still didn't like watching."

"You didn't have to."

"Yes I did."

"Why?"

Kagome inhaled deeply. "Because I had to make sure neither of you two got seriously injured," she replied.

Grimmjow chuckled lightly, nuzzling her neck. "I wouldn't have killed him," he assured her.

"You looked like you were about to and he looked like he was going to try and kill you," Kagome pointed out.

"I wasn't trying to kill him," the panther defended. "I was just trying to knock him out. Szayel said something before that when one experiences lack of air, they eventually pass out. I made sure to let go once he was out."

"Thank you," Kagome whispered. "For not killing Inuyasha."

Grimmjow let out a low hum, continuing to nuzzle his mate's neck and nipping gently every now and then. He stopped when Shippo came up to them and settled for barely rubbing his head against Kagome's as his mate and kit talked. She pulled something out of one of her pockets and handed it to the cheering kitsune, who went back over to the human children once the small pieces of candy were in his hands.

"You make a good mother," Grimmjow complimented, then grinned. "But you spoil the kit a little too much."

Kagome lightly elbowed his stomach, earning a chuckle from him. "I'll go see if Inuyasha's okay enough to go," she said, detangling herself from him.

"I didn't hurt him too badly during that fight," Grimmjow scoffed with a smirk. "He should be fine."

"Still," Kagome giggled, heading back to the hut where Inuyasha was. Grimmjow shook his head slowly then turned his attention to his adopted son as Shippo started showing the children his spinning top. When Kagome made it back to the small hut three minutes later and entered, she wasn't surprised to see Inuyasha up and placing his Tetsusaiga at his hip. "You should rest a little more," she advised.

"I don't need it," Inuyasha solemnly stated.

The miko sighed lightly. She knew her being with Grimmjow would affect her first Feudal friend, but she didn't think he would take the blow this hard. "Inuyasha," she softly called, but was cut off.

"Why him?" the hanyou asked.

"What?"

"Why him? Why that cat? Why did you choose him?" Inuyasha exclaimed. "Why didn't you choose me?"

Kagome was silent for a moment. "You hurt me, Inuyasha," she stated. "More times than I can count. I can remember every time you say you care for me then disappear that same night to go to Kikyo. I remember you always telling her that you loved her and that you would go to Hell with her once Naraku was dead."

"I owe her!" Inuyasha argued. "She was dead because of me. It's the least I can do for her!"

"Kikyo is full of hate now, Inuyasha!" Kagome yelled. "She isn't the woman you fell in love with before! You just can't see it. And it drives me crazy. It drives me crazy when you compare us and keep telling me Kikyo would never do this or that. Whenever you tell me that Kikyo was stronger than me and all that! You don't see me as me, but as Kikyo.

"But Grimmjow does see me. He doesn't see me as someone else, he sees me. He loves me and I love him. That's why I chose him. He treats me as an equal. He doesn't treat me any different than he treats anyone else. He encourages me to do better instead of insulting me and bringing me down like you do. Not once has he even tried to hurt me."

"He will!" Inuyasha growled. "He will eventually hurt you and I can't stand the thought of him doing that! You accepted to being his mate and now you can't get out of it! He probably tried to act like the good guy so he could win you then he'll show his real self and hurt you! And you won't be able to get away from him because you accepted him to be your mate!"

"Grimmjow won't hurt me," Kagome confidently said. "He wouldn't ever hurt me. If there is someone within our group of friends that has hurt me…it would be you, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha didn't know what to say to that. He knew he had hurt Kagome before from his insults to comparing her and Kikyo to sneaking out at night to see Kikyo. She was right, he had hurt her and he knew it. There was no way he could have ever gotten Kagome in the end. If Grimmjow stayed out of the picture, she would probably end up with Kouga or some guy from her era. Someone she could stay with and would treat her right. She probably would never have chosen him because of how he always treated her. It didn't matter if he approved of her choice of mate. There was nothing he could do about it and she deserved a mate that treated her better than he did.

"I don't like it and I probably never will," he confessed. "But I can't do a thing about it."

"I wouldn't want you to," she told him firmly. "Are you ready to go? We should probably catch up with Sango and Miroku soon."

"Yeah," Inuyasha replied with a nod of his head. "By the way, what was that weird form of his earlier?"

Kagome blinked a couple times then remembered only she and Shippo knew Grimmjow had three forms. "His mother was from a land far west," she told him. "She came here when she was pregnant with him because of a war going on. The demons far west have three forms. We've only seen Grimmjow's human form, but you and I have seen his hybrid form up close."

Inuyasha scoffed as they headed outside. "Great, what does he look like in his demon form?"

A low growl caught both of them by surprise. There was a large silvery-blue panther with three long tails and bright blue eyes. Shippo was on his head. "Grimmjow's a three-tail!" Shippo exclaimed from his perch. The panther looked as though he smirked, quite smugly too.

"Explains a lot," Inuyasha grumbled. Half-demons could get powerful, but could never surpass a one-tail. Even if a hanyou's power level somehow did, it wouldn't get that much higher. Inuyasha himself was an example of being stronger than a one-tail, but he wouldn't surpass a two-tailed demon.

Grimmjow nudged Kagome's hand and stepped up beside her. "He said he would carry us," Shippo told her as the panther used his tails to help Kagome onto his back. "It would be faster this way."

"I'd rather run on my own," Inuyasha snarled.

The panther growled lowly at him. "He said he wouldn't carry you anyway," Shippo translated.

"You can understand him?" Kagome asked, rubbing the back of Grimmjow's ear. She was rewarded with a loud purr.

"Yeah, sorta," the kitsune admitted with a light blush on his cheeks as he rubbed the back of his head.

The panther just started to trot forward before breaking out into a full run. Inuyasha ran beside him but made sure not to pass the large panther that was much larger than Kirara. Grimmjow did win the fight. He was the new leader. It wouldn't bode well to pass him like he wanted to and show an act of defiance.

****

**Well hopefully Inuyasha will calm down now, but what will happen next? Next chapter will still the same day as this and I guess I can go ahead and spoil…THE BATTLE AGAINST NARAKU IS NEXT CHAPTER!1!11!1!11ONE!ONE! **

**So please do review and let me know what everyone thinks of this chapter! It would make me very happy! And FYI, this chapter is over 5,500 words without author notes.**


	8. Chapter 8

**And now we have the battle against Naraku and it's only chapter 8! After this chapter or near the end of it, we'll go back to modern time and get to the part that is stuck in my head. I actually have a lot of scenarios going through my mind about that but you will see which one I choose later on. Anyway, enjoy the chapter and I hope everyone likes it!**

**FYI, I listen to music when I type and there is a certain scene in here that I typed when listening to sad music. Hope I don't make anyone cry from its touchy-ness!**

**I probably make Naraku and his incarnations sound very weak, but I can do what I want! They fighting Espada! They gonna get their asses kicked! Deal with it! **

**And I am a little behind as to the stages Inuyasha's Tetsusaiga is, just a friendly warning. I haven't seen Inuyasha lately (since it's only showing reruns from forever ago and I get annoyed with reruns eventually), so I'm just going with what I remember. Leave me alone.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Bleach or Inuyasha. Nope.**

****

It didn't take long to get to the ruins of the Raven Lord's castle. Sango and Miroku were already there, exploring to see if they could find a clue to Naraku's location. Both looked ready for battle when Grimmjow ran into the courtyard they were in until they saw Kagome and Shippo, then Inuyasha seconds after. Kagome slid off of the panther and removed Shippo from his head before Grimmjow shifted back to his human form. "Anything?" he asked.

Both shook their heads. "We haven't found anything yet," Sango replied.

"He's gotta be around here somewhere," Inuyasha grumbled, looking around.

Kagome took a quick glance around the area, trying to sense the Shikon. All she could see was the vines growing up the crumbling walls and the raven statue that was missing it's wings, wings she noticed on the ground. "Sense anything, Kagome?" Inuyasha asked.

"Not yet," Kagome said with a shake of her head before she suddenly felt it at the back of her mind. "Wait!" she gasped, bringing attention to her. "I can sense it. It's close!"

Grimmjow growled lowly, standing close to his mate who held onto their adopted kit a little tighter. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck rising, warning him of an strong enemy close by. Shippo hopped onto Kagome's shoulder before the miko grabbed her bow and notched an arrow, ready to fire it. Inuyasha had a hand on Tetsusaiga while Sango picked her Hiraikotsu off her back and held it by her side. Miroku was reaching into his robes and pulling out a few talismans when a dark chuckled echoed through the courtyard.

Feeling a barely noticeable shift in the earth, Grimmjow growled and yelled out, "Spilt up!" The others were confused, but moved out of the way in time before large tentacles shot from the ground right where they were standing.

Their weapons drawn and ready for battle, Naraku emerged from the shadows with a smirk on his lips. "I'm surprised you found me so easily," he commented, floating towards them with a thin cloud of miasma circling around his form. "I suppose Kagura gave you such information. I'll have to punish her after I kill all of you."

"Like that's gonna happen," Inuyasha scoffed.

"The Shikon is in his chest," Kagome told the others as Kirara took Shippo a safe distance away.

"But he has a barrier up," Sango pointed out with an angered tone.

Grimmjow watched the spider hanyou before shifting into his hybrid form. "Kagome," he spoke softly. "Fire one of your purification arrows. Inuyasha, you use your Wind Scar."

"Even if we did that, his barriers just get stronger!" Inuyasha growled. "He already suspects something like that."

Grimmjow smirked at him. "Didn't expect me, though," he chuckled. "Sango, your brother is hiding in that corridor. Keep him from interfering." Sango nodded before running into the castle ruins in search of her brother. "Miroku, keep your Wind Tunnel closed. He's got those insects all over the place. Best to stick to your talismans." Miroku nodded once.

"I don't know what you think you know, but Naraku isn't going to fall for it!" Inuyasha snarled at the panther.

"Kagome, aim for the jewel," Grimmjow said softly. She pulled back the strong of her bow, aiming for the spot she saw the Shikon. "Just do what I said, mutt."

Inuyasha growled as the Tetsusaiga went red. Both fired their attacks as Grimmjow's claws grew out and glowed blue. He slashed his hand through the air and four long blue blades blended into the combined attack of the Wind Scar and Kagome's arrow. Naraku smirked, believing the attack out only bounce off his barrier. All three attacks struck, grinding against the barrier. Naraku's smirk fell when his barrier started to crack then shattered completely. He didn't have anytime to dodge it and just let the attack engulf him.

When the attacked and dust that was kicked up cleared, chunks of the spider hanyou were scattered all over the courtyard. The hair on the back of Grimmjow's neck didn't go down. The pieces of flesh started to gather to a chunk that had a spider scar on it and reform Naraku's body.

"That took care of the barrier," Kagome commented lowly. "But we can't defeat Naraku unless we destroy his heart."

"My turn," Naraku said with a smirk before miasma exploded from his body, destroying all the plants in the courtyard and forcing the group to cover their noses and mouths with their sleeves. Grimmjow settled for covering his mouth and nose with his hand since his hybrid armor bound his clothing tightly to his body under it, so he had no sleeves to use instead.

"Where is he?" Inuyasha shouted.

"I can't tell!" Kagome replied.

"Kagome, get down!" Grimmjow shouted, looking her direction in time to see a shadowed figure coming up from behind her. The miko ducked down in time to dodge the claws that almost took her head. Grimmjow's hands glowed blue again as he sent his attack towards the shadowed figure. The figure pulled back before the attack struck him. He growled lowly. "You truly are a coward," he commented. "No pride! You force others to follow you! You use a stone to enhance your own power! You wish to be full demon yet you don't even have a demon's pride!"

The miasma quickly drew back, giving the group a breath of fresh air. "I may not know you," Naraku spoke darkly. "But I do want to know this. What give you the right to speak to me as such?"

"It's actually pretty damn easy," Grimmjow deadpanned. "See, I'm gonna act like you. 'Oh, look at me. I'm a weak as hell half-breed that needs a shiny rock to make me feel more powerful and special, when in reality, I'm a fucking coward that cowers behind a barrier and laughs as everyone tries to destroy the only fucking ability I have!'"

"That is going to piss him off, I hope you that," Inuyasha commented.

"Yeah, I know," Grimmjow replied with a grin. "But it was fun."

Naraku raised his arm and changed it into a longer tentacle with a sharp tip then sent it out to try and stab Grimmjow. Kagome shot an arrow at it before it got too close to the panther. "Insolent wench!" Naraku shouted as his arm grew back then used it to swat her to the side.

"Kagome!" both Grimmjow and Inuyasha yelled out when she hit a stone wall. It force of the impact caused a few pieces to fall from the top and land on her head.

Naraku started to chuckle but stopped when he felt something stab him from behind and continue forcing its way through his body until a large scythe emerged from his stomach. The others went wide-eyed, but Grimmjow smirked as he helped Kagome get back up. "Like I said, I don't need any help tracking this brat down," a familiar voice stated as the scythe pulled out.

"One does not attack our own," a calm voice added. "And the miko counts as our own."

"Nnoitra," Grimmjow greeted. "Ulquiorra."

"Neliel is searching for this demon's heart with Tesla, Starrk, and Lilinette," Ulquiorra stated lowly when he landed next to the panther.

Naraku turned around to see a man with four arms, one scythe in each hand. The man smirked at him. "You should have stayed the hell out of my territory," Nnoitra stated before his smirk fell into an angered frown. "Now I gotta kill you for doing what you did. That village was in my territory and you had no right destroying it." He suddenly shot towards the hanyou with his scythes ready to cut through him.

"Monk," Ulquiorra spoke almost quietly, going over to Miroku. "Wrap a talisman around the base of your staff and throw it at him. I will combine it with my own attack and we'll see how much damage it can do to him." Miroku nodded as he pulled out three talismans and wrapped them around the base of his staff. He saw a long staff of light form in Ulquiorra's clenched hand as he got ready to throw his staff. "Miko…no…Kagome, fire one of your arrows as well."

Kagome nodded as she notched another arrow and fired it. As soon as she did, Miroku threw his staff as Ulquiorra threw his own attack. The three attacks combined, Ulquiorra's and Kagome's seeming to swirl around Miroku's staff, and stuck Naraku when his attention was on Nnoitra. The mantis saw the attack and leapt out of the way before it hit Naraku.

Naraku yelled out when the staff buried itself into his side and the talismans caught fire, adding to the burns that the purification arrow and Ulquiorra's attack had already caused. He grabbed the staff and tore it from his side, smirking as his wound stitched itself closed and healed. Moving to attack the group again, he didn't pay attention as two scythes spun through the air towards him and behind the scythes was Inuyasha's Wind Scar.

One scythe dug into his side while the other went through his back completely until the sharp tip of the weapon dug into the ground and pinned Naraku where he stood seconds before the Wind Scar hit him. Once again, his pieces of flesh scattered but regrouped to the spider mark.

"What can we do about that?" Nnoitra hissed in annoyance.

"It's his back," Kagome pointed out. "The flesh gathers to the spot where his heart should have been and reforms his entire body."

Ulquiorra and Grimmjow looked at each other then at Miroku, who raised an eyebrow at the two demons. "What if the Wind Tunnel takes pieces of his flesh?" Ulquiorra asked, looking at the monk.

"Too risky!" Grimmjow commented, shaking his head as the body was once again in one piece. "Poisonous insects are all over the place, we just can't see them. His Wind Tunnel will suck them all in. Not to mention the guy has miasma inside his body, it would poison him!"

"Why do you think smoke is rising from the fire?" Ulquiorra asked, staring at the panther demon. Grimmjow was confused for a moment before smirking.

"What?" Inuyasha said. "What does smoke and fire got to do with anything?"

"You're very stupid, aren't you?" Nnoitra insulted the hanyou before pointing over his shoulder where a wall of smoke was starting to rise.

"What?" Naraku growled as the smoke rose higher and higher. Soon a wall of smoke circled the entire courtyard and those with sensitive ears could hear the buzzing of the insects suddenly stop.

"Still, even a chunk of that guy will poison Miroku," Grimmjow pointed out.

"We do have an antidote, Grimmjow," Miroku argued. "I can handle this. If it will help us win, I will do what I can."

Grimmjow nodded then smirked before charging towards their opponent. Naraku's eyes widened when the panther was directly in front of him before Grimmjow's arms were blurs. The spider hanyou felt each strike, each nail that dug into his chest and stomach until both hands pulled away and one punch landed on his face, throwing him back towards Nnoitra. The mantis raised a couple of his scythes and sliced through the body heading his way, cutting Naraku in half.

"Now!" Grimmjow ordered before the Wind Tunnel opened. Nnoitra dug his scythes into the ground and held onto them as he felt the forceful pull of the Wind Tunnel. Grimmjow stayed low to the ground, digging his claws into the earth under him. He saw the lower half of Naraku get sucked in before yelling out to Miroku to close the Wind Tunnel, which he did.

Miroku clenched his hand and groaned painfully as his skin started to slowly change colors. Kagome went over to him and pulled out an antidote from a pouch she kept wrapped around her waist. "He'll re-grow it," Kagome pointed out after giving Miroku and antidote and looked around for the other half of Naraku. "We've cut off arms before and they always grew back."

"High speed regeneration?" Ulquiorra commented with a raised eyebrow. "Interesting."

"Just makes this more fun!" Nnoitra exclaimed before something long and sharp went through his stomach. "Well damn," he said, turning his head over his shoulder to see Naraku with his entire body and arm in the shape of something stiff and sharp. The mantis grinned, grabbing the end sticking out of his stomach then turned and sliced the limb that pierced him from behind before pulling out the piece that was through his stomach. "Try again," he taunted.

"Nnoitra has a death wish," Ulquiorra sighed with a shake of his head. "Any ideas, Grimmjow?"

Grimmjow was silent as Nnoitra went to attack Naraku again. "All we can do is keep breaking him apart until the others destroy his heart," he said. "Maybe if we're lucky, Kagome can find the Shikon and get it before he pulls himself together. Think you can, Kagome?"

His mate looked at him before nodding her head. "I can try," she replied.

"Then in that case," Grimmjow said with a smirk. "Mutt, instead of Wind Scar, use Backlash Wave! It'll tear him up enough to give Kagome a chance to find the Shikon before he puts himself back together."

"He'll try to run before we succeed," Miroku commented.

"Not when Szayel and I have wings," Ulquiorra stated, moving his wings to emphasize. "And no one can run from Nnoitra or Grimmjow when they are the opponents. They wouldn't allow it."

Inuyasha snorted, but readied his Tetsusaiga for a powerful Backlash Wave. Miroku pulled out more talismans as the light staff from before formed in Ulquiorra's hands. Kagome notched an arrow when Grimmjow's hands glowed blue. "Nnoitra, dodge!" he yelled out barely a second before they all threw their attacks towards the fighting demons. Nnoitra jumped out of the way right before the attacks collided with Naraku's form. The shockwave of the combined attacks nearly knocked them down. Miroku had to crouch to the ground so it wouldn't knock him over and Grimmjow grabbed a hold of Kagome.

"Can you see it?" he asked the miko.

Kagome quickly scanned the area before pointing towards the chunk of flesh that always attracted the others. "It's there!" she exclaimed. Grimmjow picked her up and ran over to the flesh. He let her down when they reached it and tore through the flesh so she could get the Shikon. She reached into the hole Grimmjow's claws created before the wound could healed itself and pulled out the nearly complete Shikon. The pieces of flesh seemed to move quicker though instead of slowing down. Cursing under his breath, Grimmjow picked his mate up once again and leapt away.

Naraku's body reformed again, this time with an angered look on his face. "That jewel is mine!" he yelled out as he changed forms from his human self to his large spider demon form.

"Shit!" Inuyasha and Nnoitra yelled out, one in annoyance and the other in amusement.

The spider demon shrieked loudly, swinging a leg towards the panther that had perched himself on a tall wall. He quickly let Kagome slide down to the ground before jumping out of the way. "This just turned into a bigger pain in the ass," Grimmjow commented as he landed on the spider's back.

**123456789876543251**

"Kohaku!" Sango yelled out, using her Hiraikotsu to block another strike from her younger brother. "Please! Snap out of it!"

Kohaku's blank eyes just stared at her as his weapon crashed into hers, bounding off of it. He twirled it in the air again before throwing it towards her. It wrapped around her Hiraikotsu before he pulled it back. Her large weapon found itself embedded into the floor behind him, forcing Sango to rely on her katana. She quickly drew it before her younger brother threw his chained scythe at her again.

Golden eyes watched the siblings fight below him before the eyes rolled and a smirk found its way to his lips. Szayel leapt down from the ceiling, landing behind Kohaku. The young boy turned around to see the mixed demon and was about to attack him, but Szayel grabbed him by his neck. "Normally, I don't fight," Szayel stated. "But this just doesn't seem right to me, so I'll make an exception."

He threw the boy into a wall, forcing the wall to crumble and fall. Dust and dirt rose from the ground, making both demon and slayer cover their noses before the chained scythe shot towards Szayel. He leapt out of the way, but the scythe was swung around by its chain and headed towards Sango. Szayel pushed himself back downwards using the other wall and drew his own katana, managing to slide it into a chain link and stab the ground. Unless the boy pulled hard enough to yank the sword from the ground or break it, the chain and scythe wasn't going anywhere.

"Are you alright?" Szayel asked, looking towards Sango.

"Yeah, who are you?" Sango replied.

"My name is Grantz Szayel Aporro," he introduced himself with a small bow and taking his attention off of Kohaku, who was now at his feet with a katana in hand. "I'm a friend of Grimmjow's."

"In that case, look out!" Sango yelled.

Szayel ducked before the katana stabbed him from behind and swiftly turned around to elbow the young slayer in the stomach. Kohaku coughed harshly, spit flying from his mouth as he knelt to the floor. Sango watched as the newly arrive demon struck her brother on the back of his neck before Kohaku fell to the ground.

"Kohaku!" she cried out, running over to her brother.

"He's alive, just knocked out," Szayel assured her. "Now how to keep him alive without the shard he has in his back is the problem. Or is it there just to control him?"

"A bit of both," Sango replied.

"We need to do something about that…" the pink-haired demon sighed, running a hand through his locks.

**12345678987654321**

"Over here!" Lilinette yelled out as she chased after the pale girl.

"Lilinette, be careful!" Tesla yelled back, some distance behind her when he saw something (he didn't know what) heading towards the young coyote demon. Lilinette spotted it and jumped into the air to dodge it.

"She's got a bodyguard!" Neliel exclaimed, seeing a small red-eyed boy with a bloody-thirsty smirk on his pale lips. His hair was a very light lavender, almost white and reached to his back.

"I can't let you go any further," Hakudoshi commented, pointing his spear towards them as Kanna ran further away.

"Then I guess we gotta get rid of you," Tesla said, shifting to his demon form. His height grew until he could easily surpass Nnoitra in height and his skin was soon covered by tan-brown hair. He stood on his hind feet, instead of having four hooves like most boars. He only had two. His hands were still human-like, only larger and covered with the same fur covering his body. His face changed to that of a boar's and two short tusks stuck out from the corners of his mouth as his sand-colored hair grew further down his spine. A short tail with a tuff of thick hair at the tip swayed agitatedly behind him.

"Think you can defeat me?" Hakudoshi taunted.

"We'll see," Nel replied.

"Lilinette," Starrk said lowly to his adopted pup. "Follow that girl. She probably won't be able to fight very well holding onto that thing. Kill them both."

The coyote pup nodded and shot off after the girl in white. Tesla charged towards the boy and drew back a fist when he was close enough. He was about to punch the boy, but Hakudoshi dodged and used his spear to cut Tesla's eye. The boar demon drew back and shrieked in pain, one hand covering his eye as the other eye glared towards Hakudoshi, whom smirked smugly.

"Gotta try better than that!" Hakudoshi scoffed, still smirking.

He almost didn't notice Starrk right behind him. When he did, he wasn't given enough time to dodge before the Alpha Wolf demon kicked his side. Hakudoshi skidded on the ground, slowing himself down, but wasn't able to dodge Nel's kick to his head. Tesla soon ignored his damaged eye and ran over to the fallen boy that was starting to get back up. He punched the back of the boy, forcing him back to the ground, but the spear tip was then used to slice across his chest.

Tesla ignored it and gripped the smaller body in his hand then threw him into a boulder not too far away. Hakudoshi landed on his back, trying to stop his head from spinning before he looked up and saw two fists coming towards him again. He raised his spear and heard a pained gasp. One fist made contact with his stomach and the spear was pulled from his hand. Nel had the spear in her side, but pulled it out and tossed it away from them.

Nel pressed a hand to her bleeding side and just looked towards Starrk, who nodded at her then grabbed Hakudoshi from the collar of his haori. "I would think a pup with your strength could do a little more damage to us than we are doing to you," he taunted before punching him in the face. The force of the punch made Starrk lose his grip on Hakudoshi's clothing, making the smaller demon fall to the ground. Starrk's foot was soon dug into Hakudoshi's stomach and he was thrown once again to the side.

"Damn you," Hakudoshi cursed through clenched teeth, ignoring the blood pouring down from his hairline.

"Not the first to say that to us," Nel commented with a smile, one hand still on her wound.

**12345678987654321**

Sango, after making sure Kohaku was in a safe spot, returned to help fight against Naraku by throwing her Hiraikotsu towards the demon's legs. Kirara, with Shippo still on her back, attempted to tear some legs up as well as the kitsune burned them with Fox Fire, but had to abandon the ones she always got a hold on because of another leg trying to swat her away. Inuyasha threw Wind Scar after Wind Scar and sometimes throwing in a Backlash Wave towards the large spider. Kagome fired multiple arrows while trying to keep the jewel from Naraku's gigantic spider self. Szayel helped Sango and Kirara in removing the spider's legs by transforming into his bird self and tearing the legs apart as soon as he got a hold of them.

Grimmjow threw attacks towards the spider with Ulquiorra and Nnoitra throwing in their own, sometimes combining their attacks to cause massive damage. Nothing seemed to slow the spider down, much to everyone's annoyance. What got Grimmjow's attention, though, was that the spider was after his mate! She had to keep dodging Naraku's attacks, sometimes barely making the dodge in time.

Such as now. The force of the angered impact of Naraku's leg to the ground that Kagome once stood on knocked the miko off balance and caused her to fall to the ground. A large rock struck her head hard enough to make her dizzy, almost knocking her out but she fought that off. Her vision was confusing right now. She was unable to tell from which direction the leg coming towards her now was coming from and didn't know which way to go in order to evade it.

A silver body was soon on top of her before red invaded her vision that was just starting to clear. She gasped. Grimmjow was on hands and knees above her with one of Naraku's limbs through his stomach. He growled loudly, grabbing the limb that tried to dig further into him and reach his mate. Ulquiorra made his way over and sliced through the limb then pulled it out of Grimmjow.

The panther demon yelled out painfully as Ulquiorra removed the limb from his stomach. Blood seeped from his mouth as he shook his head. "Grimmjow!" Kagome gasped, trying to focus her miko energy to heal Grimmjow's wound.

"It won't work," Grimmjow stated. "Miko energy and demon energy doesn't mix well." He coughed harshly, uneasily getting to his feet while helping Kagome get up.

"How you are able to walk right now astounds me!" Ulquiorra snapped at him. "That limb went through your spine and destroyed maybe two major organs!"

Kagome started to hyperventilate, helping Grimmjow stay on his feet. "I can fight however long I need to," Grimmjow growled. "We need to beat him! We need to kill this bastard!"

"Only destroying his heart can kill him!" Miroku pointed out, using his staff to swat away some spider webs shot towards him.

"Then we need to hold him here long enough for the others to destroy his heart!" Grimmjow snarled. He managed to make a step, but then his body seemed to realize at the wrong moment that his spine was missing a piece and his legs gave out. Kagome managed to keep him up, but had to lower him to the ground after a moment. She was strong, but not that strong.

He growled when Naraku raised a newly re-grown leg and was about to finish them off, but when the tip of the leg was barely ten feet away, the spider demon suddenly shrieked and reared up. It seemed to thrash around for a moment before shifting back into Naraku's humanoid form, one hand clutching his chest as his face twisted in pain.

"What's going on?" Kagome asked with wide eyes on the evil demon that had caused so much unnecessary death.

"Maybe the others finally destroyed his heart," Grimmjow chuckled, ignoring the pain that shot through his entire body as well as the blood that poured from his wound like a red waterfall.

**12345678987654321**

The baby was so silent and still, so real-looking instead of being a demon's heart, it almost made Lilinette hesitate in destroying it. She had already killed Kanna, who was laying on the ground with her blood staining her once white form and dyeing it red. But why was it so difficult to come up with killing this baby?

"Damn it!" the coyote pup growled, taking a step back. "I can't. I can't!"

"Then I will," she heard someone say before turning around to see Tesla, bloodied, injured, and in his demon form.

"Tesla," Lilinette shakily said before she was pulled into a form behind her. She looked over her shoulder. "Starrk. I can't! It looks so much like a real baby! I know it isn't, but it just-!"

"I know," Starrk assured. "Go ahead Tesla."

The boar demon nodded and placed one hoof on the tiny body before pressing down on it. Lilinette turned completely and buried her face into Starrk's stomach. "I guess being raised around Nnoitra made him able to kill anything without remorse," Nel commented as the tiny body under Tesla's hoof was crushed flat and soon was nothing more than mush and blood.

**12345678987654321**

Miasma exploded from Naraku's body once more, but instead of staying around one area, it blended into the wind and thinned out until it was gone. All that was left of Naraku were his battle-worn clothes. "Is he gone for good now?" Shippo asked when Kirara landed next to Kagome and Grimmjow. He jumped down and sat next to his adopted parents, worry on his face when he saw Grimmjow's injury.

Szayel rushed over to the pair as well the check on the panther that shifted back to his human form. Kagome helped Grimmjow roll over until he was on his back with his head in her lap. When Szayel moved Grimmjow's haori to investigate his injury, he hissed and slowly closed the haori while turning his head away.

Ulquiorra, Nnoitra, and Grimmjow recognized the action. Szayel rarely did such a move when he was treating them. The only reason he would look away would be if he knew he couldn't heal the injury and just let it heal on its own, or that there was nothing he could do and the injury would kill them. Grimmjow already knew which reason it was that Szayel looked away. The spider broke his spine and tore a piece of it out, as well as left a huge hole in his abdomen and probably completely destroyed his stomach and probably his liver as well. Who knew what all was damaged from the attack, but he knew that it would kill him.

He distinctly heard Nnoitra make a comment about warning him of involving himself with the affairs of humans getting him killed. He chuckled lightly. For once, the damn mantis was right. "Szayel?" Kagome called to the pink-haired demon.

He shook his head. "His spine is broke," he pointed out. "His stomach is gone, as well as a kidney and his liver. One of his lungs is damaged and his lower ribs are broke. He has a hole in his stomach, Kagome. The blood won't clog with an injury that large. Not fast enough. And it won't heal. We demons can heal quickly, but when it involves a major organ being damaged, we can't just heal from it like we could from regular injuries. Ulquiorra heals faster than any of us and even he would die from an injury like Grimmjow's before it healed."

"All in all, I'm dead," Grimmjow snorted, trying not to let any pain show on his face. "Fuck." He saw Kagome clutch the jewel to her chest before moving it to his stomach. He grabbed her wrist. "Don't. The power surge I would get from the Shikon would only make things worse and I may end up hurting you and everyone else."

"But what can we do to help?" Sango shouted/asked.

"There is nothing we can do," Szayel replied. "This injury will kill him. Even if it healed, his major organs can't just re-grow in a split second. He would die before they even managed to start the process of repairing or forming."

"So we just let him die?" Shippo cried with tears forming at the corner of his eyes.

"We are not exactly happy about it either, kit," Ulquiorra commented, turning his head to the side.

"Maybe we can ask my half-brother to use the Tenseiga to heal him," Inuyasha suggested, arms crossed over his chest. He earned a few incredulous looks. Everyone knew he hated Grimmjow and were surprised he suggested taking him to Sesshomaru for healing. "What?" he snapped. He may hate the panther, but he made Kagome happy. In his mind, that was important!

Grimmjow gently nuzzled Kagome's stomach, getting her attention away from the others that were coming up with reasons one why going to Sesshomaru was either a bad or good idea. Or in the cases of Szayel, Ulquiorra and Nnoitra, what could Inuyasha's half-brother do about it. The miko looked down at him, running her hands through his hair. "You'll be fine," she assured him.

"You know I love you, right?" he said silently.

"Don't you start talking like that," Kagome almost snapped. He could see the tears forming in her eyes.

"If it's my time, it's my time," Grimmjow commented with a smirk. "I just regret not meeting you sooner. We could have had a longer time together."

"You'll be fine!" Kagome whispered harshly, bringing Shippo's attention to them.

"Stop," the panther sighed. "Crying doesn't suit you. You look so much more beautiful when you're smiling and laughing. I don't like seeing you upset." His mate took a shaky breath. "You didn't answer my question. You know I love you, right?"

"I know," Kagome replied with a nod of her head. "You know I love you, too, right?"

Grimmjow smirked as his eyes slid closed. "Yeah, I know," he said. "Maybe we'll get lucky. Maybe I can be reincarnated in the future, maybe around your time. Then we can see each other again and hopefully pick things up from there."

"Maybe," the miko agreed with a sad smile before looking up at the others and tuning into their conversation.

"Sesshomaru's Tenseiga probably can revive him should he die, but it can't heal his wound!" Sango argued.

"He cut his servant in half before and Tenseiga healed him," Inuyasha pointed out blandly. He remembered hearing the little imp complaining about it once.

"Jaken had his entire spine," Miroku stated. "Grimmjow is missing a piece of his."

"Maybe the Tenseiga could heal him," Szayel commented. "If it holds the kind of power you say it does, maybe it can heal him as well as revive him when he does die."

"You make it sound like you're sure he will die," Nnoitra said.

"An injury like this, he will," the avian sighed.

Kagome tuned out of the conversation again, turning her attention back to her panther lover. Blood continued to pour from his wound but he didn't appear to be breathing. Her eyes grew wide as she started to gently shake him. "Grimmjow," she said softly, shaking him harder as she spoke louder. "Grimmjow? Grimmjow! Wake up!" Attention was on her and the panther demon on her lap.

Ulquiorra and Nnoitra lowered their heads and turned to the side as Szayel looked down at his lap like it was the most fascinating thing he ever saw. Sango sat behind Kagome and wrapped an arm around the miko's shoulders and tried to calm her down. Miroku kneeled to the ground and prayed for their fallen comrade silently. Even Inuyasha lowered his head as Shippo climbed into Kagome's lap and cried into her shirt.

**12345678987654321**

Ten days had passed since the battle against Naraku and since Grimmjow's death. He was buried in the field of healing flowers that was on his territory. Ulquiorra showed them where it was and Kagome decided it was a good place to bury Grimmjow. She visited him every day. Shippo came with her each time. They even grabbed a flat stone and carved into it his name as well as other things.

Kouga gave up his jewel shards easily when he was told Naraku was gone and that Kagome needed his shards. They did find Sesshomaru and he revived Kohaku when they removed the shard from the boy's back. They talked to him about possibly reviving Grimmjow, but when Sesshomaru was told about what damage the injury that killed him caused, Sesshomaru said Tenseiga couldn't heal that amount of damage.

Miroku's Wind Tunnel was gone. Now he and Sango finally confessed to each other and were even preparing a wedding. Nel popped in occasionally, sometimes with one of the others and she (occasionally with Szayel) helped plan Sango and Miroku's wedding. Inuyasha didn't ask for the jewel, saying it was probably better that he stayed as a half-demon. So Kagome wore the complete Shikon around her neck, hidden under her shirt.

Kagome eventually couldn't stand being in the Feudal Era anymore and just felt like she should return home. She announced that she was going home to the others on the eleventh day. They were silent at her announcement, but knew it would eventually happen. The jewel was complete and there was nothing binding Kagome to their time and keeping her from her own era.

They went with her to the well for final good-byes. Surprisingly, Kouga and even Grimmjow's friends that they had met were there. Either it was coincidental, or they just felt like they knew and all came.

Kagome placed her bag by the well and turned to look at all of her friends. Sango went up and hugged her first. "I'll miss you," the slayer said. "You've been like a sister to me."

"I'll miss you, too, Sango," Kagome said, hugging her companion back. "I've always thought of you as my sister as well. Take care of yourself and keep Miroku out of trouble. Have plenty of kids and live a good, long, happy life."

"I'll try," Sango replied, pulling away before Kagome hugged Miroku next.

"You take care of Sango and all kids you two have, got it?" she playfully warned.

"Of course, Lady Kagome," Miroku chuckled as they pulled apart.

Kouga came up to her and hugged her before anyone else even moved. "I'll miss you, too, Kouga," Kagome giggled. "Live a good life with Ayame. She's the one you're supposed to be with."

Kouga nodded. "You'll always be a sister of my pack," Kouga told her. "Even in your time."

She nodded once, giving him a quick hug. As soon as Kouga was out of the way, Nel embraced her next. "I wish we could have gotten to know each other better!" Nel exclaimed. "But I already love you like a sister! I hope we can meet again in your time."

"I hope so, too," the miko said, rubbing Nel's back slightly before the demoness pulled away. Kagome knew that Ulquiorra and Nnoitra were not 'touching' people, they just seemed to not like contact that much. "Thank you two for everything," she told them. They nodded at her. "I'll miss you both."

"You'll always be one of our own," Ulquiorra told her.

"We stick to our own," Nnoitra chuckled with a wave of his hand. "We're all we have left. Why wouldn't we?"

Kagome giggled lightly. Tesla (who stood next to Nnoitra) shook his head slightly, his headband now wrapped around his eye that Hakudoshi cut. "We'll all miss you, Kagome," the boar demon said with a slight bow towards her.

Szayel grinned at her. "We may have a better chance to get to know each other in the future, but until then!" he stated before his grin fell into a smile. "We won't forget you, Kagome."

"I hope not," the teenage girl said with a small smile.

She turned towards Inuyasha, who stood close to her. Her smile went smaller and turned soft. "I will always love you as my annoying older brother, Inuyasha," she told him. "I hope you find a girl that will accept you for who you are and not try to change you in any way possible. If you do find a girl like that, treat her well, Inuyasha."

He nodded to her before she hugged him. He gently hugged back and when she pulled away a moment later, she tried to remove his subjugation necklace. He stopped her. "I may hate it every time you say that word," he said. "But let me keep something to remember you." She nodded at him then hugged him again. "Don't lose yourself in grief, Kagome. It isn't who you are and he wouldn't want you to."

"I know," she sighed heavily, but not in annoyance.

When she pulled away, Shippo latched onto her shirt and she held him in her arms to stop him from falling. He started to cry. "You can't leave, Kagome!" he cried out. "I already lost two fathers, must I lose two moms as well? Please, don't leave!"

Kagome hugged him tightly. "I was going to ask you to come with me, Shippo," she admitted. "Hopefully the well will let me take you with me. Do you want to come with me to my time?"

He nodded. "Just don't leave me, mama!" he cried into her shirt.

She held onto him with one arm as she other hand grabbed her bag and swung it over her shoulder. She took one last look at her friends. "I'll miss all of you," she said. "I won't forget any of you."

"We won't forget you either," Sango said. The others nodded in agreement.

Kagome smiled brightly at them before swinging her legs over the edge of the well and jumping in. The magic surrounded her and when she landed, she first made sure Shippo got through with her. Thankfully he did. He looked up at her and she looked up to see the ceiling of the well house. "We're home," she said softly.

**12345678987654321**

Far away from Kagome in a different world all together, a pale Arrancar with black hair that had half a white helmet with a horn on top of it, and emerald eyes with two green lines going from the bottom of his eyes to his chin, walked down the empty hallway to a certain room. He stopped in front of a door and raised a fist before knocking on it.

"What?" an annoyed voice snapped before the door opened to show a taller Arrancar with blue hair and cerulean eyes, a bit of blue-green markings at the corner of his eyes and a bone jaw to the side of his mouth. "What do you want?" he asked, seeing who it was.

"You do realize how long it's been, I hope," the shorter Arrancar stated. The subject was obvious.

"Yeah," the other replied with a nod of his head and a small sigh. "Five hundred years."

****

**And that is the end of chapter 8! Sorry if I made it sound sad at the ending, but it had to be done! I didn't want to kill him, but I had to come up with some way on how he became an Arrancar. And if no one knows who the two Arrancars I described are, then what the heck are you doing reading a Bleach/ Inuyasha crossover and not knew who they were?**

**Lol. The next chapter will be close to a reunion, but others will get in the way!** **Anyway, please review!**

**BTW, this chapter was 6,830 without author notes.**


	9. Chapter 9

**And now for chapter 9 of ****A Panther's Unforgettable Love****! First I would like to thank everyone for their support with this story so far. You guys really inspired me to keep going with this story. My other stories (for the exception of one or two) aren't as popular and well loved as this one and I would just like to say "THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR YOUR SUPPORT!"**

**Now on with the chapter! We shall tune into the Espada every now and again near the end of the chapters until Kagome and Grimmjow are reunited! And yes, I will have them reunite!**

**And I read the name of Kagome's mother somewhere before, but I don't think I spelled it right. O well! Deal with it! Also, is Ryuken a doctor? I think he is, but if he isn't, he is in this story!**

**Disclaimer: don't own Bleach or Inuyasha, but I do own one character. Someone you shall meet or know about soon, he-he. Evil laugh**

****

The bond between Kun-Loon (Kagome's mother) and Shippo was almost immediate and she played the role of grandmother well. Souta had exposed Shippo to videogames and such things, which the young kitsune was instantly addicted to. Kagome's grandfather nearly gave the poor kitsune heart failure at a young age when they first met, throwing sutras at Shippo and screaming "DEMON BEGONE!" at the top of his lungs. Her poor Shippo had passed out after that experience.

Kagome knew Shippo could stay at the shrine while she went to school, but thought it would be better to let him get used to this time and let him play around children his own age. He was much better at his illusions and easily passed off as a human boy with auburn hair and large green eyes. Souta constantly gave him some of his old clothes to dress the kitsune whenever he transformed into his human self.

Unfortunately, school was extremely hard on the teenage girl. She missed so many days while she time-traveled, she couldn't understand a thing the teachers were talking about! Her friends took notes for the days she was absent with her 'illnesses', but the notes mostly proved useless. She was falling behind and just knew she had to redo the entire school year.

After a few stressful days of school, Kagome started getting sick in the mornings. Shippo was worried, but Kagome told him it was probably because she was stressed from school. Souta, of course, had told their mother about Kagome being sick whenever she wakes up after the fourth day. Kun-Loon took her temperature, confused when she didn't feel a fever and that Kagome didn't even act sick.

Kagome knew the signs, but she didn't want to get her hopes up. Her mother probably recognized what was going on as well, but didn't ask because it could have just been stress. But after she realized she was a week late, Kagome knew what was going on. She had already scheduled an appointment at the doctor's when her mother asked about her sickness.

"Kagome?" her mother called her. "Can we talk for a moment, dear?"

"Okay, mom," Kagome replied, sitting by her mother in the living room.

Kun-Loon sighed slightly. "Dear, I know the Feudal Era is different and you may have fallen in love, but I would feel better if I knew. Did you have sex when you were in the Feudal Era or any time recently?"

Kagome blushed brightly, turning her head away. This was embarrassing, but she knew it would eventually happen. "Once," she admitted. "The night before we fought Naraku."

Her mother inhaled deeply, but silently and calmly. "Kagome, I know you probably need reassurance at that time, but you are not on birth control and neither you or Inuyasha-"

"It wasn't Inuyasha," Kagome corrected.

Kun-Loon looked at her daughter in surprise. She always thought Kagome loved Inuyasha. "You weren't-"

"No, mom, I wasn't raped," Kagome assured with a wave of her hand. "Remember the panther demon I told you about a few weeks ago? Grimmjow?"

Her mother nodded before her eyes went wide slightly. "It was him, wasn't it?" she asked.

Kagome nodded her head. "Yes," she replied. "I loved him and he loved me. He didn't force me into it or anything. It was only once then…"

"If you wanted to stay in the Feudal Era with him, I would have understood, Kagome," Kun-Loon told her daughter, patting her knee gently.

"He died," Kagome told her. "Naraku killed him. Grimmjow died protecting me." She broke down sobbing. Kun-Loon was surprised, but pulled her distraught daughter into her arms and allowed Kagome to cry into her shirt. About twenty minutes later, Kagome stopped crying and pulled away from her mother. "I'm sorry, mom. I got your shirt all wet."

"Kagome, I'm your mother," she pointed out. "I'm here for you whenever you need a shoulder to cry on or someone to rant to. It's what I do."

"And you're the best at doing it," Kagome commented

Her mother smiled at her before making a face that looked like she just remembered something. "Oh!" she exclaimed. "Kagome, I spoke with your Uncle Ryuken earlier and told him that because of your multiple 'illnesses', your school is stressing you out too much. He said you can come live with him or your cousin Uryu in Karakura Town and attend Uryu's school for the rest of the year."

"Uncle Ryuken?" Kagome gasped, remembering her silver-haired, steel-eyed uncle. He was always calm and collected and when Kagome was young, she often wondered if he had emotions at all. But he was always kind to her and tended to spoil her sometimes, especially after her father died. Her father was his brother.

She was actually closer to Uryu than her uncle. Uryu was like another brother and he was a overprotective brother at that. He was the one who first tried to teach her archery, but she wouldn't understand anything he tried to teach her and Ryuken put a stop to the archery lessons. There was always a distance between the two, but as a young girl, she paid it no mind. It had been a couple years since she had seen either of them.

"Wait, did you tell him about Shippo at least?" the teen asked.

"Of course, dear!" Kun-Loon replied with a smile. "I know you wouldn't want to leave Shippo here so I told Ryuken you found him in an alley starving and when you took him in, he started to call you his mother. He said he'll let Shippo stay as well when I told him that Shippo has Separation Anxiety."

"When are they expecting me to come?"

"In a couple of days, so you have plenty of time to pack what you need and want for both yourself and Shippo," her mother said, still smiling. "And Kagome, just to let you know, Uryu moved out of Ryuken's house. Ryuken pays Uryu's apartment rent until he can pay it himself."

"Why does that not surprise me?" Kagome joked before looking at the clock. "Oh! I gotta go, mom! I scheduled an appointment to see if I really am…" She didn't finish and Kun-Loon didn't need her to. She understood.

Two days later, Kagome and Shippo with his human illusion on were on the train heading towards Karakura Town. The doctor called the day before with test results and said that while the urine test was negative, it may be too soon to tell. Apparently, the hormones pregnant women get go through the blood first and when the blood can't hold anymore hormones, then the extra hormones go to the urine. The doctor said to wait a couple more weeks and see if the test was any different.

She told him that she could ask her uncle, who was a doctor himself, to give her a blood test. Though she was dreading the thought of asking Ryuken for a blood test to see if she was pregnant. It would definitely be an awkward conversation and Uryu will probably turn into an overprotective brother again. She sighed and rubbed her forehead, imagining the chaos asking Ryuken for a blood test would be.

**12345678987654321**

Steel blue eyes glanced towards the clock before a low sigh escaped his lips. He flipped open his cell phone and dialed a number that would allow him to talk to someone who he rarely spoke to.

"What do you want, Ryuken?" he heard his son ask instead of greeting him.

"Is that any way to greet your father, Uryu?" he stated.

"I don't care," Uryu replied. "I'm assuming you called for a reason."

"Yes," Ryuken said, stacking some papers on his desk. "Your aunt called a couple days ago and asked me to take Kagome and her adopted son in until she finished the school year at least. She has suffered from multiple illnesses, most of which I doubt and was probably my father-in-law over exaggerating, and her school is putting too much stress on her. She will be attending Karakura High for the rest of the year."

"And you're just telling me now?" Uryu snapped. Ryuken couldn't help but smirk. "And why is she living with you? Wait, she has an adopted son?"

"She is living with me because your aunt was worried about her health and yes, Kagome has an adopted son," Ryuken replied, putting the stack into a file and then placing that file in alphabetical order in the filing cabinet. "She found him, he started calling her his mother, and he is coming because he has Separation Anxiety."

"Why can't they stay with me?" Uryu asked in annoyance.

"Because I live in a house and you live in a apartment," Ryuken pointed out, speaking to his son like Uryu was seven years old again. "Anyway, I am calling because I have a meeting to go to and she will be arriving on the train soon, yet I cannot pick her up."

"I'll get her then," Uryu said with a small sigh. He hung up before Ryuken could say anything else.

With a small shake of his head, Ryuken dialed another number as he headed out of his office to go to the staff meeting. It was answered after the second ring. "Hello," a feminine voice greeted.

"Hello, Kagome," Ryuken greeted back. "It's your uncle."

"Uncle Ryuken," Kagome gasped. "Hi!"

Ryuken chuckled lightly. She was always so chipper and innocent. One of the reasons why he stopped Uryu from trying to get her to unlock her own powers when they were young. Uryu was already undergoing Quincy training no thanks to Uryu's grandfather and was trying to get Kagome to start training, too. He didn't want her to have that sort of life, chasing and killing Hollows. She was too innocent for that kind of living.

"I'm afraid I won't be able to pick you up from the train station," he informed her. "But Uryu will be there to get you and Shippo."

"Okay then," Kagome said in both excitement and disappointment. "I guess I'll see you when I see you."

"Yes," he said. "Goodbye, Kagome."

"Bye-bye!" his niece chirped before both hung up and he continued his way to the meeting.

**12345678987654321**

"So your cousin is coming here to live with your father?" Orihime asked as the small group followed after an irritated Quincy. Said group consisted of Orihime, Rukia, Ichigo, Renji, and Chad.

"Yes," Uryu replied. "She's been sick a lot and she's too stressed out at her own school. Aunt Kun-Loon thought it would be better for Kagome to transfer to Karakura High for the rest of the school year so she could probably try and catch up."

"Wouldn't she still have problems here?" Ichigo asked.

"You're an idiot, Kurosaki," Uryu commented. "Each school has its own learning pace, just like each teacher teaches different things at different paces. Her school tries to cram too much information in too little time and it is stressing her out. She's missed too much school as it is and she would either be repeating the entire year or be expelled because of too many days missed and not keeping her grades up. It would be better for her if she moved here."

"You sure it's a good idea for her to be here?" Renji asked. "I mean, the Hollow appearances are increasing lately and we don't know why yet."

Uryu scoffed. "I don't plan on letting anything happen to my cousin," the Quincy said determinedly. "And are you guys going to follow me all the way to the train station?"

"We just want to meet your cousin," Orihime said.

"Might as well get introductions over sooner than later," Rukia agreed with a wave of her hand. "Besides, not everyone is here. Hitsugaya-taichou, Matsumoto-fukutaichou, Ikkaku, and Yumichika aren't here."

"Thankfully," Uryu grumbled. "I wouldn't mind the taichou being here, but the other three…don't get me started."

"So is your cousin coming here by herself or is her mom coming here with her, too, just to make sure she makes the trip okay?" Orihime asked, lacing her hands together behind her back.

"She's bringing her adopted son," Uryu replied, not noticing the others shocked faces. "She found him in an alley and he just started calling her his mother when she took him in. He has Separation Anxiety, so he has to come."

"What's his name?" Rukia asked this time.

"Ryuken didn't say," Uryu muttered under his breath.

When they reached the train station, Uryu already started looking around for his cousin through the large crowd. "What does she look like?" Renji asked the Quincy.

"Long black hair and brown eyes," Uryu replied. He got a small look from the others. "I haven't seen her in a couple years, okay?"

"Uryu?" someone called out before the group looked to see a teenage girl with a eight-year-old red-headed boy hiding behind her legs. The boy had a backpack on him and a suitcase was next to the teenager.

"Kagome!" Uryu exclaimed. His cousin grinned at him then threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. "Wow, you haven't changed much, but you actually got a little taller. You're still short, though."

Kagome hit his arm. "Excuse me for not being as tall as you," she scoffed playfully. "I missed you so much! It has been way too long and we have so much to catch up on!"

"I can tell," Uryu commented, looking down at the small boy.

"Oh!" Kagome gasped, placing a hand on her adopted son's shoulder and pushing him forward a little bit. "This is Shippo."

"Hi," Shippo shyly greeted.

"Hi there!" Orihime chirped. "Wow, you are so cute I could just cuddle you to death!"

Shippo went back behind Kagome's legs. "He's shy," Kagome explained. "And Shippo, she was just laying about the cuddling you to death part."

"I know," Shippo said with a small pout.

"So who are your friends, Uryu?" Kagome asked with a smile on her lips.

Uryu pushed his glasses up his nose then used his hand to introduce who was whom. "This is Kurosaki Ichigo," he started.

"Yo," the orange-haired teenage boy greeted with a nod of his head.

"Inoue Orihime," he continued.

"Nice to meet you!" the red-headed girl chirped.

"Yasutora Sado, but we call him Chad," Uryu introduced the tall, dark-skinned teenager, who just nodded once at her. She smiled brightly at him. "Kuchiki Rukia," he continued on.

The shortest girl curtsied with a smile. "Pleased to make your acquaintance," she greeted.

"And Abarai Renji."

"Hey," the tattooed red-head greeted.

"Nice to meet all of you!" Kagome said happily. "I'm Higurashi Kagome and, like I said, this is my adopted son, Shippo."

"Come on," Uryu said, picking up her suitcase. "You two are staying at my apartment whenever Ryuken can't keep an eye on you."

"First off," Kagome started to argue, taking the case from the surprised Uryu's hand. "We're not fragile. We can look after ourselves. Secondly, since when did you call your own father by his name?"

"Since he and I don't get along anymore," Uryu replied with a sigh.

"Since when did you two ever get along?" Kagome commented as the group made their way out of the train station. "So how is your archery coming along, Uryu?"

Uryu smirked. "Never miss," he said. "What about you? Last time I saw you, you wouldn't even touch a bow."

"I've learned," Kagome replied with a small smile. "I still need to work on my aim a little better, but I'm pretty good. As the miko of the Higurashi Shrine, I have to learn a few things, don't I?"

"A miko?" Rukia repeated as Uryu and Kagome continued talking. She looked over at Renji, who just shrugged his shoulders. "I do sense reiatsu coming from her and her son."

"Same here," Renji agreed. "And it's not small. Even Ichigo must have noticed it by now, and he's bad at sensing reiatsu." He ignored the glare from a certain substitute.

"I think we should tell the others and keep an eye on her," Rukia suggested. The red-headed Shinigami nodded once.

"What part of 'Shippo and I can take care of ourselves' don't you get, Uryu?" Kagome suddenly yelled.

"Look," Uryu shouted back. "There's a lot of things that happen in this town! I just don't want you getting hurt! So if I tell you to do something, do it!"

"What kind of things?" Kagome said in a low voice, just staring at her cousin like she was challenging him.

"Like…" Uryu thought for a moment. "Buildings randomly exploding. Streets breaking. Name it, it's happened here." He stiffened slightly when he heard the howl of a Hollow.

"And things randomly howling like that?" Kagome asked, looking around. "What was that?"

"She heard it?" Ichigo whispered sharply. "Oh well. We gotta take care of it."

"One of the others will take care of the Hollow," Rukia assured him. "It's closer to them than us, anyway."

"Alright," Ichigo sighed.

"Don't worry about what it was," Uryu told her. "Just don't do anything stupid and don't wonder around. You don't know who to trust here and who not to."

"You are a little too trusting, mama," Shippo commented under his breath.

"I am not!" Kagome playfully argued. "Name one time!"

"Miroku," Shippo pointed out. "You trusted him enough to not be a pervert and he was."

"I was caught off guard and I thought he was unconscious!" Kagome exclaimed. "How was I supposed to know he would touch my butt? Besides, I never heard of perverted monks, so what do you expect of me?"

"Who did what?" Uryu asked dangerously.

"Just a friend," Kagome explained with a shake of her head. "He eventually left me alone and focused on another friend of mine."

"He was still a pervert, though," Shippo pointed out carelessly.

"No changing Miroku," Kagome sighed. "Everyone had to keep an eye on him."

"So," Rukia cut into the conversation. "Are you only staying for the school year?"

"I guess it depends on how things go," Kagome replied with a shrug.

"Well Ryuken already got you accepted into my school and he got Shippo enlisted in an elementary close by," Uryu stated, pushing his glasses up his nose again.

Kagome shook her head at her cousin's constant habit. "Did he tell you that?" she asked.

"No, but I know how he is and he would have all the necessities done before you arrived," Uryu commented with a small smirk. "Thankfully, it's the weekend so you two can get settled in and relax for a couple days then go to school on Monday."

"Thank goodness!" Kagome sighed loudly, earning a laugh from Orihime and Rukia.

**12345678 Time Skip! 87654321**

It was early in the evening when she arrived at Ryuken's house from visiting Uryu. Shippo was curled up sleeping on her large bed without his illusion, so his fluffy tail, little fox feet, and pointed ears were shown. Kagome hummed a small song as she unpacked some clothing, putting her clothes into the drawers of her dresser or hanging them up in the closet.

There was a soft knock at her closed door, making her jump slightly and placed a blanket over Shippo gently so he wouldn't wake up. Once his demon features were hidden well enough, she went to the door and opened it with a smile. "Hi, Uncle Ryuken!" she chirped.

"Kagome," her uncle greeted back as she allowed him into the room. "Are you settling in alright?"

"Well it hasn't been a day yet, but I think so," Kagome replied. "Uryu introduced me to his friends earlier. They seem really nice and at least I'll know a few people when I start school Monday."

"Good," Ryuken said with a small smile then he sighed lightly. "Kagome, your mother told me about something." She tensed up. "I won't lecture you. I know you are more mature than others your age are normally supposed to be, but I am worried. Your body isn't fully developed and that could make this pregnancy difficult for you."

"I'm not even positive if I am pregnant," Kagome pointed out. "The doctor said it was too early for a urine test to figure out."

"How far should you be?" Ryuken asked.

"Almost a month," Kagome replied.

Ryuken let out a low hum then pulled out a syringe from his pocket. "The only way to be absolutely sure is a blood test," he pointed out. "Now give me your arm so I may draw blood and I'll run a test tomorrow then let you know the results when they come in. IF you are pregnant, then I will be your personal doctor for this."

"Shouldn't my doctor be a pediatrician?" Kagome asked as she sat on the bed.

"Yes," Ryuken replied. "But you are my niece. So I shall be your doctor for this pregnancy. You are still young, the same age as Uryu. There will probably be quite a bit of problems during the pregnancy and I would feel better if I was the one helping you through it than someone who could make a mistake."

Kagome sighed softly as her uncle kneeled in front of her and then poked the vein in her elbow after cutting off the circulation long enough to draw some blood. "Are you going to tell Uryu?" she asked.

"I will leave that up to you," Ryuken replied. "If I tell him, he probably wouldn't believe me and start yelling at you for not telling him if he does believe me. You do not need any stress during this, so try not to make any for yourself. The sooner you tell Uryu, the better his reaction would be. Would you rather tell him when you start showing?"

The teenage girl shook her head. "I'll tell him when I get the results…if they're positive, that is. Don't need an overprotective cousin on my case."

"That would probably be a wise idea," her uncle commented, pulling the needle out and allowing circulation to continue. "Put pressure on that for a moment until it stops bleeding." Kagome pressed her thumb to it tightly while holding onto her elbow with her other fingers. "I should have the result tomorrow. You should stay with Uryu for the day instead of staying here by yourself with Shippo. You both need to get used to the area so you won't have to worry about getting lost in the future."

"Okay," Kagome said with a nod of her head.

"I'll leave you alone for now," Ryuken stated as he got to his feet. "Did you eat earlier?"

"Yes, Uryu made me and Shippo a bit of dinner when we were at his apartment earlier," she replied with a small smile.

"Good, but watch what _you_ eat."

"I will, Uncle!" Kagome giggled as her uncle left the room. The conversation wasn't as awkward as she thought it would be. Her uncle actually seemed to accept it, albeit reluctantly. A small thought hit her. Ryuken wouldn't accept things like her getting pregnant this young that easily. What else did her mother tell him? She sighed heavily then got under the covers behind Shippo, pulling her adopted son closer to her before drifting off into a light sleep.

**12345678987654321**

A low sigh escaped him as he tilted his head back. "Ulquiorra," he said. "I can't just pop out of a rip in the sky with a hole in my gut, a hole which is in the exact same spot that the spider demon made when he killed me, and half a jaw bone on the side of my face and not expect her to freak out!"

"You know her better than us, and we know she's understanding," Ulquiorra pointed out.

"It won't be that easy finding her, though," Nnoitra pointed out. "The land is different. I can't even tell what was my territory with all these changes."

"Meaning we can't find the well that she used to come back to this time," Tesla sighed with a shrug of his shoulder.

"And we cannot leave without Aizen-sama suspecting something," Ulquiorra added as an afterthought.

"Who the hell cares about Aizen?" Grimmjow yelled out. "Who the hell does he think he is, anyway? Thinking he can march on in Hueco Mundo and expect Hollows and Arrancar to obey him instantly just because he gave us a little more power!" He scoffed. "Personally, I would go look for her in the World of the Living just to piss him off."

"Yeah," Nnoitra agreed with a wide grin. "Act of defiance!"

"We should be able to go to the World of the Living without his permission anyway," Grimmjow commented. "We have before he came here. Who says we can't?"

Ulquiorra shook his head. "Aizen-sama would not like for–"

"Aizen can kiss my ass!" the Sexta exclaimed, making a certain tall Arrancar burst out laughing.

The Cuatra Espada rolled his eyes slightly and sighed. "He is going to send me and Yammy on a mission to look for that boy he believes would get in the way," he stated. "I will look for her during the search for this boy. If she is not in Karakura, then we will just have to look somewhere else."

"Why the hell can't I come?" Nnoitra growled. "Come on, already!"

"Because you are too violent," his superior pointed out calmly. "And yes, I am aware Yammy is as well, but not as much as you and Grimmjow."

"We'll just have to deal with things this way," Grimmjow said, placing his chin on his fist. "I might even slip in and look as well."

"You would get into trouble," Ulquiorra argued.

"So? Let me piss Aizen off just this one time!" Grimmjow scoffed.

"Act of defiance!" Nnoitra laughed again.

"Shut up, mantis!"

****

**okay, not as long as previous chapters, but I'm working on it! Next chapter, we find out if Kagome really is pregnant or not, how Uryu would react, and then Ulquiorra and Yammy come to the real world! ^^ **

**And yes, this is set before Uryu got his full powers back meaning Orihime hasn't been kidnapped yet. **

**Yes the Shinigami are already in town, I messed that up concerning the timeline (a timeline which I probably will be messing up a lot for now), but just go with me here! I didn't realize how much I screwed up until the chapter was done and I couldn't change it without screwing everything else up! I want the Shinigami there before Ulquiorra and Yammy arrive just for kicks. I wanna mess with them for a moment. But yes, they are there. I don't wanna hear anything about them showing up after Ulquiorra and Yammy. If I do, no updates of any kind for a year! **

…**yeah, I probably wouldn't last that long…then no updates for four months!**

**Sorry if I confused anyone, but that's the timeline here! **

**So please review! And if you have questions, I will do my best answering them!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Okay, I am glad everyone likes the story ad I know I messed up in the timeline, but I just felt like doing it and I had so many scenarios running through my head as I thought about this story and I just messed up the timeline. O_o oops… anyway, hope everyone likes the new chapter! ^^**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Inuyasha, leave me alone about it.**

****

Strangely enough, Ryuken did not have the test results as soon as he thought. He said the tests were either positive or negative, but it kept shifting. Kagome suspected it might have something to do with the baby being half demon, if there was a baby, not that she no longer doubted there was since she missed a monthly period.

It was Monday, a dreaded day in Kagome's opinion. Shippo was already in Elementary school thanks to Ryuken signing him up there, and she ended up meeting Ichigo's younger twin sisters. Shippo took an instant liking to Yuzu and made a powerful friendship with both twins in a matter of seconds. It was just part of his charm. Kagome only hoped his illusion didn't suddenly cancel out.

She was currently standing in the hallway, waiting for the teacher to invite her in to introduce herself to the class. She already heard quite a ruckus inside, sounding like it was mostly coming from one boy or from Ichigo and Renji. The door to the classroom opened and the teacher poked her head out. "You can come in," she said.

"Okay," Kagome replied as she entered the classroom after the teacher.

"Everyone, this is your new classmate," the teacher announced. "Be nice to her and I may spare you some homework during the year. Go ahead and introduce yourself."

Kagome gave the class a small bow. "Hello," she greeted. "My name is Higurashi Kagome. I just moved here from Tokyo to live with my uncle and cousin, even though a certain cousin doesn't live with said uncle." Uryu seemed to ignore the comment.

"Who are your uncle and cousin?" the teacher asked.

"Oh!" Kagome gasped. "My uncle's name is Ishida Ryuken, he's a doctor. My cousin is right there and thinks the desk is more interesting than all the boys staring at me with drool hanging from their mouths." Uryu glared at the male population of the classroom, making Kagome giggle. "Kidding, Uryu. Two words: Chill pill."

"Not funny," Uryu commented.

"Aw," Kagome pouted.

"Well since you're his cousin, why don't you sit next to him for now until you get comfortable here," the teacher suggested. "Better sit next to him than a delinquent."

Kagome noticed she was staring at Ichigo, who just looked out the window uncaringly. "Alright," she said, sitting in the recently vacant seat next to her cousin. The class passed without much excitement. The learning pace was steady enough for Kagome to understand and her notes were as flawless as Uryu's, though he took little. Lunch soon came around then she turned to look at the others that were gathering near Ichigo's desk. She stood before Uryu and went over as well.

"Ah, hello Kagome-chan!" Orihime greeted with a smile.

"Hi," Kagome said and smiled back before noticing the tomboyish girl next to Orihime.

She seemed to notice Kagome staring at her. "Nice to meet ya," she said. "Name's Tatsuki."

"Nice to meet you, Tatsuki," the miko replied before a bento box was in front of her face. Her eyes followed the hand down the arm and to the face of her cousin. "He told you I forgot my lunch, didn't you?"

"No," Uryu replied. "I just remembered that you always forgot your lunch when we were kids."

Kagome took the bento with a smirk. "Cheeky cousin I have," she commented. "But thank you for the thought."

"Not a problem," her cousin replied.

"So you adjusting to Karakura alright, Kagome-chan?" Orihime asked, sitting down on top of a desk.

"Yeah," Kagome replied with a small nod of her head. "Uryu's been making sure Shippo and I don't get lost, so he's showed us all these shortcuts to and from school as well as other places that would be important."

"That's good," Rukia commented as the young miko opened the bento Uryu gave her. "Though I hope you haven't been spending all your time with Uryu. Have you tried exploring on your own?"

"Shippo and I did look around by ourselves," Kagome replied. "Yesterday, actually. We went to the park for a little while. Uryu said he was busy with something for a while and would meet up with us later." She didn't mention that she saw something strange while at the part. It scared Shippo since he never seen a demon like it. A large gray beast with black swirl markings on its shoulder and back and a white mask for a face. "We actually met Karin there with some of her friends playing soccer. They kidnapped Shippo from me for a little while for their practice. He had fun."

"Oh, so your kid was the one that Karin wouldn't stop talking about," Ichigo commented. "Kept saying she met a red-head that was really good at soccer and had a kick that could rival hers. I doubted that, though. I felt her kicks before."

Kagome giggled before her phone started to ring. She pulled it out and looked at the caller ID. "I'll be right back, alright?" she told them as she got up and went into the hallway, her phone still ringing. Once in the hallway, she flipped open the phone. "Hello," she greeted.

"Kagome," her uncle's voice greeted back. "It seems that the blood tests finally decided to settle for an answer." She inhaled deeply, her hand already laying on her stomach. "I tried a mildly different approach and the results came back positive. I want you to come in later for an ultrasound. We may not see much, but it wouldn't hurt."

"I guess it wouldn't," she agreed. "Alright. Do you want me to come over after school?"

"Yes," Ryuken replied.

"Alright," she sighed as her hand went from her stomach to her forehead. From the corner of her eyes, she saw a lean blonde boy with wide lips staring her direction. The look in his eyes made him seem like he found her suspicious. "I'll see you later, Uncle."

"Very well," he said before both hung up.

Kagome stared at the blonde down the hallway and he stared back. "Do you have a staring problem or something?" she asked. He didn't reply other than a shake of his head then went into the classroom. "Weird-o."

**12345678987564321**

"Why are we in the hospital, okaa-san?" Shippo asked, still in his human disguise and holding onto Kagome's hand.

"Because Uncle Ryuken wanted me to come in after school to make sure of something," she replied. "And we may get a peek at your future baby brother or sister, if there is one."

"There is," Shippo told her confidently. "Your scent changed a little bit. I smell something new on you, like a mixture of your scent and Grimmjow's."

Kagome smiled down at her adopted kit and removed her hand from his to pet the top of his hair gently. "Then I guess we do have something to really remember him," she said with a sad smile.

Shippo's little smile fell. "Don't get sad, mama," he said. "I don't like it when you get sad."

"I'm sorry," the miko sighed. "Come on. Let's hurry up so we can go to the candy store after this."

"Yeah!" Shippo exclaimed with a bright smile. "And I wanna explore the park some more after that!"

Kagome giggled. She was thinking of taking him to the park afterwards anyway. He needed to get rid of the extra energy he would get from all the candy he was bound to consume. She stopped a nurse in the hallway and asked her where Ryuken was before the nurse told her the way to his office then continued on. Many of the patients and nurses kept awing and cooing at Shippo, saying he was the cutest little boy they ever saw.

The two made it to Ryuken office to see him typing on his computer. He glanced up when the door closed and smirked at them. "I was on the phone with your mother, Kagome," he stated. "She shed a bit of light on this for me."

"What did she say?" Kagome asked as Shippo ran over to the couch and jumped onto it.

"She told me about your ex," Ryuken stated before his smirk fell away. "I am sorry that you had to see the cruelty of the world like that. She said that though she never met him before he was murdered, he did make you happy so I will only lecture you, but not pressure you into aborting or giving the baby up as soon as he or she is born."

"What's aborting?" Shippo asked, tilting his head to the side.

Kagome shook her head at him before Ryuken got up from his desk and went over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I know you are still healing from his death," he said, gently squeezing Kagome's shoulder. "And I have a feeling it may be one of the reasons why your mother sent you here. But don't let your grief consume you. Not with Shippo and this little one to worry about."

"I know," she shakily sighed.

Ryuken nodded his head. "Let us go and do that ultrasound now," he suggested.

Shippo tilted his head again then ran over to Kagome, taking her hand once more as Ryuken led them to the room where the ultrasound machine was. "What's this do?" Shippo asked when they got to the room and saw the machine before he sat in the chair next to the bed Kagome laid down on.

"Lift up your shirt a little, Kagome," Ryuken instructed. Kagome did as she was told before Ryuken spread a gel over her stomach. She shivered. "Yes, I'm sure it's cold. As for your question, young man, this will allow us to see the child. It sent ultrasonic sounds through her and will come up with an image on this screen so we can see the baby. It will be small right now, but we will be able to see something."

"Sugoi," Shippo said in awe as Ryuken removed a small object from the machine that was attached by a curled cord. "Kind of like a bat!"

Ryuken nodded as he pressed down on the gelled spot of Kagome's stomach after turning the machine on and moved the device over the area. "It is very small, still in early development, but it is there," Ryuken stated, pointing to a small, white dot on the screen. "We'll be able to see it better in a few months and eventually, we'll be able to tell it's gender. Possibly around the sixth month."

"Okay," Kagome said as the machine was turned off before her uncle gave her a clean rag to remove the gel. "Well I'm gonna take Shippo to the park for a little bit," she stated once the gel was gone and she was off the table. "He's been wanting to go back for a while."

"Very well," her uncle sighed. "I'll fill our prescriptions for you and get you the vitamins you need for your pregnancy. We need to keep a close eye on you during this since you are still very young."

Kagome nodded before Ryuken waved his hand slightly. The teenaged miko took Shippo's hand and the two left the hospital, heading for the candy store first since she did promise her adopted son. After Shippo was happy with the amount of sweets he got from the store, they went straight to the park that was just around the corner. Though there was something strange happening. Many of the people they passed by suddenly fell to the ground and it appeared as though their souls were being sucked out of the bodies from a distance.

She didn't want to leave Shippo alone but she also didn't want to expose him to any danger. With a small sigh, she knelt down to Shippo and held onto his upper arms. She knew Shippo had been through a lot during his short life and can handle himself. She knew that if he felt that he couldn't, he would hide away somewhere safe. She had to trust that her son would listen to what his instincts tell him. "Shippo, I don't know what we are going to see, but you do as I say, understand? If I tell you to leave, then you leave. Do not ask questions. Understand?"

"But okaa-san," Shippo started.

Kagome shook her head. "I can handle myself," she assured him. "But I want you to stay safe. Alright?"

"Alright," Shippo muttered lowly. He wouldn't run, though, even if she told him to. She was his mother and he was going to have a baby brother or sister. He didn't care if he would get in trouble later on, he was going to try and keep his mother safe.

She grabbed his hand again and the two ran towards the center of the park, following the souls to the point where they were being swallowed by a large man with bumps on the top of his bald head (well, bald for the exception of the red ponytail that was at the back of his head and black sideburns on the side of his face) and dressed in white. There was also a bone lower-jaw attached to his chin and red markings under his eyes. He made a comment about the souls tasting terrible before they noticed a second person standing there.

He was much shorter and his skin was pasty white. His emerald eyes looked around briefly. There was one thin green line under each of his eyes, disappearing under his chin. On top of his black hair was something like a helmet, only it covered half of the top of his head and had a horn on it. He, too, was dressed in white but there was a black spot at the base of his neck.

"That looks like Ulquiorra!" Shippo exclaimed in a whisper.

"Yeah," Kagome agreed as the large man looked at something not too far from her and went over. She glanced as well, eyes widening when she saw Tatsuki on the ground. Conscious, but barely. The man stopped right in front of Tatsuki and asked Ulquiorra if she was the one they were looking for. Ulquiorra said no and that she was trash. The man moved in a way that made Kagome jump out in front of Tatsuki, startling the much larger man into stopping his attack. Ulquiorra went wide-eyed when she appeared in front of the larger Arrancar.

"Who the hell are you?" he growled.

"What do you think you're doing?" Kagome yelled at him. "She's hurt enough as it is and you were going to attack her? What is the matter with you? Demon!"

The man made an angered face and raised an arm to swat Kagome to the side. As it came down, Ulquiorra suddenly appeared in front of him and stopped his arm. "If you attack this miko, Yammi, then you will have many of the Espada after your head," he warned, throwing Yammi's arm away from him before looking towards Kagome. "It is good to see you again, Kagome."

Kagome nodded at him. "Nice to see you, too, Ulquiorra," she said. "I can barely recognize you."

"Yes, many things can happen through the course of 500 years," he said. "You just saved me the trouble of looking for you."

Yammi was confused about this. Ulquiorra didn't get along with many, yet he was speaking to this woman like they were old friends. He looked around for a split second before seeing two newcomers. "Hey, Ulquiorra," he spoke. "Either one of them?"

Ulquiorra looked for a moment. "Yammi, you must work on your sensing. Both of them are too weak to be our target. They're trash."

"What's going on?" Kagome asked as Shippo came out of his hiding spot and stood next to Kagome.

"We are here looking for someone," Ulquiorra explained to her. "Though we were given a description, I do not know why he keeps asking me whenever he sees someone new approach. Of course, I was going to look for you as well, just without many others knowing."

"Mama!" Shippo suddenly exclaimed, pointing towards Yammi and Sado. Kagome gasped, hands covering her mouth when she saw Sado's arm practically torn apart.

Ulquiorra watched as well, surprised when a bright orange barrier formed over him and started to heal the human's arm. "Interesting," he commented. A triangular barrier formed in front of Orihime, but shattered when just Yammi's fist punched against it. The hand then swat at her, tossing her to the side. Orihime then shot a small black object, but Yammi crushed it in his hand.

"What is he doing?" Kagome nearly shouted, about to run over to help Orihime but was stopped by Ulquiorra.

"Being a complete buffoon," Ulquiorra replied like it explained everything. "Where are your bow and arrows?"

"I can't exactly walk around in this time with weapons," Kagome pointed out. "Where have you been, under a rock?"

Ulquiorra was silent for a moment. "In a desert consumed by an eternal night," he stated. "In Hueco Mundo." He watched a black blur suddenly stop in front of Yammi's fist, holding it back by a thin black sword. Yammi once again asked him if this was the one they were looking for and Ulquiorra confirmed it. The fight truly did start then and there when Ichigo removed Yammi's arm with his thin sword.

"What's going on?" Shippo asked fearfully.

Ulquiorra looked down at the disguised fox demon then placed a hand on top of his head. "You will know soon enough," he replied. "I can already assume once I report back, Grimmjow will want to come here and get you himself. If he doesn't get into trouble first."

"Grimmjow?" Kagome repeated, yet keeping her eyes on Ichigo, who suddenly froze up, not that it deterred Yammi any. The larger man didn't seem to care why Ichigo froze up, only that he wasn't fighting back and then started to beat him.

"You will know soon enough," Ulquiorra told her, noticing another woman and a second man enter the fight and started to beat Yammi up. He could tell the fight was going to end soon, and with these opponents, it would probably end with Yammi's death unless he released his zanpakuto. "I hope to see you again, Kagome," he told her before standing in front of the attack the man with a hat and clogs shot towards Yammi. He raised an arm and slashed it through the air, stopping the attack.

"Ulquiorra," Yammi said before the pale man turned and struck him in the stomach, bringing Yammi to his knees.

Ulquiorra spoke for a moment then opened a rip in the sky as Kagome and Shippo ran over to Orihime and Ichigo. As he disappeared, he told them that he would tell Aizen that Ichigo was not even worth killing. Kagome didn't understand what was happening or why this Aizen wanted Ichigo dead. In a way, she had a feeling that this 'Aizen' was just like Naraku, and most likely was.

"You can see me like this?" Ichigo asked in astonishment before Kagome's hands glowed a soft blue over Orihime's injuries.

"A miko," the blonde man commented. "I heard they died out 500 years ago. Since the Shikon Guardian disappeared, actually."

"A miko?" Ichigo copied in confusion. "What the hell is that?"

Kagome nodded her head once as she ran her hands down Orihime, going from injury to injury and healing them. "A miko is a shrine priestess with spiritual powers," she told him. "When there were still many of them, mikos were believed to purify demons. I am a miko, but I thought there weren't any demons around here. Uryu doesn't know. I don't know how to tell him."

"Well I'm sure he wouldn't care much since he isn't exactly a normal human either," the dark-skinned, purple-haired woman kneeling next to Ichigo stated. "Uryu himself is a Quincy."

"A Quincy?" Kagome repeated when she was done healing Orihime's wounds then went to work on Ichigo's.

"What is your name?" the man asked her.

"Higurashi Kagome, I'm new around here and Uryu is my cousin," Kagome replied.

"Well, my name is Urahara Kisuke and this is Shihouin Yoruichi," Urahara introduced. "Perhaps we should all go to my shop so Chad, Orihime, and Ichigo can recover and so you can possibly explain a few things for us."

Shippo looked up at him mother, unsure about this human. He didn't smell right. And Ichigo, though clear as day, didn't have much of a scent at all. "Alright," Kagome agreed, placing a hand on Shippo's shoulder to calm him down. "We'll go."

**12345678987654321**

"So you deemed him unworthy to kill?" Aizen asked his most loyal Arrancar.

"You're too soft!" someone exclaimed.

"Grimmjow," Ulquiorra greeted, looking over his shoulder to see the former-panther demon surrounded by his 'pride', as Grimmjow called them.

"When you're given permission to kill, you kill," Grimmjow commented but noticed a looking Ulquiorra's eye. Grimmjow's own eyes narrowed slightly. He knew that look. It was the 'talk later, I have something important to tell you' look. Not many could read Ulquiorra, but Grimmjow and few of the other Espada could.

Ulquiorra's report eventually ended and the rest of the Arrancar left the throne room. Grimmjow went straight over to Ulquiorra, silently demanding to know what Ulquiorra found that was important. The pale Espada looked over at Nnoitra and Szayel. Both came over as well, along with Tesla.

"She is in Karakura Town," Ulquiorra told them. "She found us shortly after Yammi sucked out the human souls."

"Did you tell her anything?" Grimmjow asked.

"I mentioned you and told her it would be explained at a later date," Ulquiorra replied. "She also has Shippo with her, though he is using one of his kitsune illusions to disguise himself as a human. She has not changed much."

"She lives in this time," Grimmjow pointed out. "What's been 500 years for us has probably been a week or two to her."

"Still, she defended another human from Yammi and called him a demon," Ulquiorra said with a chuckle.

Nnoitra burst out laughing. "So do you think we can bring her into Las Noches without much trouble?" Szayel asked.

"I do not know," Ulquiorra replied with a shake of her head.

"I'll get her and bring her here!" Grimmjow declared confidently.

"How are you going to explain the hole in your gut?" Nnoitra snickered behind his hand. "Same with the jaw on your face?"

"I'll explain it to her when I get her here," Grimmjow grumbled.

"Good luck with that," Nnoitra scoffed. "I'll be laughing if you come back with an arrow in your back."

"She wouldn't do that."

"She's dealt with demons shifting forms before, what makes you think she won't be a little paranoid about you when you have a hole in your stomach and a bone jaw on your face?" Szayel commented with a smirk.

"You shut up," Grimmjow growled, pointing at the pink-haired Espada.

"So how will you explain to Aizen-sama about this?" Ulquiorra broke in before it turned into an argument.

"Two birds, one stone," Grimmjow chuckled. "I'm gonna kill that brat you failed to kill and I'm gonna get Kagome."

"I already told you that if anyone was to kill the trash, it will be me when he gets stronger," Ulquiorra pointed out. "Aizen-sama made him my responsibility."

"Too bad!" Grimmjow exclaimed with a smirk. "Besides, I'm fucking restless. I need a good fight. I'm sure my Fraccion is feeling the same way."

"You'll get into trouble," Nnoitra pointed out blandly.

"Which only makes this more fun," the Sexta stated, grinning ferally. "When I come back, not only will I have a good fight, but I'll also have Kagome here."

Ulquiorra sighed and shook his head. There would be many things going wrong, he could tell. Actually, he would be surprised if Grimmjow did manage to come back with Kagome. It may have been 500 years of Grimmjow wanting nothing more than to get Kagome back, but the panther had changed. There was no denying it.

Unknown to the conversing Espada, a certain silver-haired Shinigami was listening to them with a grin on his lips. This was something Aizen should be told about. After all, if this 'Kagome' was so important to Grimmjow, they could probably use her to control the rebellious Espada. With that thought in mind, Gin made his way down the hall.

**12345678987654321**

"Mama!" Shippo exclaimed happily, dancing around the aisles. "He sells candy here! He sells candy! Can we get some candy? Please, please, please, please?"

"Calm down, Shippo," Kagome giggled before turning her attention to Urahara. "So who starts the Q&A?"

"Well I think we should wait for your cousin to get here," Urahara replied, lowering his hat a little bit to shadow his eyes. "He should be here soon. It would actually save you the trouble of explaining everything again." Not too long after he said that, the shop door opened to reveal Uryu along with the other Shinigami, whom did not have their gigais. "Yay!" he exclaimed happily with a wide grin. "Everyone's here now!"

"Kagome?" Uryu said. "What are you doing here?"

"Ah, she is one of the reasons why I call you all here," the shop-owner answered before Kagome could. "The other reason would be the attack in the park."

"Everything was over and done with by the time we got there," Ikkaku stated. "No surprise since we were all on the other side of town."

"What kind of attack was it?" Hitsugaya asked. "A powerful Hollow?"

"What's a Hollow?" Shippo asked, sitting next to Kagome.

"Well let me explain it like this," Urahara started, snapping his trademark fan close. "When someone dies, they become a spirit, right?" Shippo and Kagome nodded. "Well there are Shinigami, like these guys, which help the souls go to a place call the Soul Society where they could continue on with their afterlives, become Shinigami themselves if their reiatsu levels are high enough, or have a chance at being reincarnated."

"You just ratted us out to a human," Renji pointed out.

"Oh, she's a miko!" Urahara happily chirped. Seeing the Shinigami momentarily stunned, Urahara continued his explanation. "Now, every soul has a Chain of Fate. As time goes on, that chain shortens and a hole opens where their heart once was. Eventually, if not dealt with, the soul becomes a Hollow – an evil spirit that devours other souls to fill the void inside of them. Shinigami exterminate these Hollows, but some Hollows generally get too powerful for a single Shinigami, sometimes more than one, to defeat.

"Now pay attention, you guys, because this involves the attack," he told the Shinigami. They nodded once. "Now there are two different types of Hollows, as all Shinigami know but I'll explain it for the rest of you. There are the normal Hollows, weaker than the second type. Ichigo, a majority of the Hollows you have encountered are these regular Hollow. You only encountered one Hollow from the second type.

"The second type of Hollows is the Menos, which come in three different classes. First, there is the well known Menos Grande, known as a Gillian –or foot soldier- in the Hollow Realm, Hueco Mundo." Kagome gasped lightly, but Urahara kept going. "Second, there is the Adjuchas. Gillians are normally the same, there is no individual. But there have been a few that have a single personality stand out more and those Gillians evolve into Adjuchas.

"Third are the most powerful, the Vasto Lordes. There are few of them, and they are the smallest, not much larger than a man, but they are the strongest. But there is another type of Hollow that Shinigami are not very accustomed with. The Arrancar. An Arrancar is a Hollow that tore off its own mask to gain the powers of a Shinigami. They have broken masks, a Hollow hole somewhere on their body, and a zanpakuto."

"Zanpakuto?" Shippo repeated, tilting his head to the side.

"It is a Shinigami's weapon," the blonde man said, holding out his cane before unsheathing the sword it held. "Each one has its own name and own unique power."

Shippo let out a low hum before looking up at Kagome. "So those two from earlier were Arrancar?" Kagome asked in a shaky voice.

"Yes," Urahara replied.

Kagome's eyes closed as she inhaled deeply. If Arrancars were spirits, then that meant Ulquiorra was dead and in the spirit world. "Wait, if they are spirits, how can we see them?" she asked.

"Those with low reiatsu can generally see a shape or disorientation in the air when a Hollow or Arrancar are near them," Hitsugaya answered this time. "The higher the reiatsu is for a certain being, the clearer the spirits are. Eventually, one cannot tell what is a spirit and what isn't unless they know exactly what to look for. We Shinigami are spirits as well, yet you seem to see us clear as day."

"Meaning you have high reiatsu," Uryu pointed out, looking towards his cousin. "Shippo, too, since he can see them. But I wanna know something, Kagome. How can you see them? You've never noticed spirits before."

"No, I haven't," Kagome sighed with a shake of her head. "Because my powers were still locked away. I didn't even know about them until…"

"Until what?" Uryu pressed.

"Until I fell down the Bone-Eater's Well and traveled 500 years into the past," she replied. "I might as well be truthful." She inhaled deeply then started to tell her story. No one interrupted her. They all sat quietly and gave her their undivided attention. As she mentioned Shippo was a young fox demon, he cancelled his illusion to show his fox feet, pointed ears, and fox tail, much to the delight of the women in the shop (Rukia stole him from Kagome's lap). When she was done, there was silence for a few moments.

"So you're the legendary Shikon Miko," Urahara commented lowly. Kagome nodded. "You have a barrier on the jewel to hide it, correct? If not, Hollows may come after it. Either the Hollows, or Aizen will."

"Who is Aizen?" Kagome asked. "Ulquiorra mentioned him."

"You know the Arrancar?" Yumichika spoke up.

Kagome nodded. "He was the bat demon I mentioned," she stated. "But if he's an Arrancar, then that means he's dead."

"But we saw him!" Shippo pointed out. "Maybe we can see Grimmjow, too! And you can tell him about the baby!"

Everyone froze. Kagome went red in embarrassment while Uryu started to turn into an overprotective brother. "Kagome, what baby is he talking about?" her cousin asked in a strained voice.

"Um…well, see it's like this," she started.

"Females her age were considered as full grown women in that era," Urahara helped cheerfully, grinning widely. "No surprise, really."

"You're not helping," Kagome told him with a glare. He chuckled.

****

**XD I could not help that last part. I just couldn't! next chapter, will Grimmjow and Kagome reunite? Will Grimmjow take Kagome to Hueco Mundo? Will Tousen still cut off Grimmjow's arm? Well you can guess, but I'm author here so it's my decision. XP review, plz!**


	11. Chapter 11

**This is easily become one of my most popular stories. Glad everyone likes it so far! ^^ Now for the moment you all have been waiting for…Grimmjow and Kagome reunite! How will it go?**

**Disclaimer: I only own Kagome's baby, not any Inuyasha characters or any Bleach characters.**

**A couple of things before people move onto the story. **

**1:What gender should the baby be and what should the baby be named? I'm stuck on that…**

**2: should I get Ulquiorra and Orihime together?**

****

Kagome ignored her cousin after his little explosion in the shop about her being too young to be pregnant and what was she thinking even having sex at all. Many of the Shinigami could feel the KI she gave off and backed away before she blew up at her cousin as well. Not many had seen anyone other than Ichigo or Renji snap at Uryu and get away with it, but no one had seen anyone explode at Uryu like Kagome had. Even Shippo got upset at Uryu and glared at him, though it looked more like an angry pout.

No matter how much Uryu tried to get her to stop ignoring him, she wouldn't give in, much to Urahara's amusement. He remembered the legends of the Shikon Miko, occasionally the legends mentioned the miko's stubbornness. Though it appeared that no one had bothered telling the others. So while Kagome ignored Uryu even more while he tried to get her to talk to him, Urahara told them what he remembered from the legends.

They said that the miko was a pure being that did not favor one species over the other, but considered them equal. She traveled and made friends with demons and humans and brought together a strange group to look for the shards of the Shikon no Tama. Their group consisted of a half-inu-demon, a demon slayer with a pet demon neko, a monk, a fox demon child, and the miko herself. The names of them were not remembered, unfortunately. The only one who could name them would be Kagome, and when they were mentioned, she did name them.

According to the legends, the group encountered many demons in search of the shards and made friends with quite a few while saving villages from the evil demons. One friend was the leader of the wolf demon tribe of that Era and a acquaintance was the half-demon's older half-brother, the Western Taiyoukai.

"So the half-demon, Inuyasha, was royalty?" Rukia asked.

"Not really," Kagome answered for Urahara. "Sesshomaru was the Lord of the Western Lands and Inuyasha was his half-brother. They both had the same father, but a half-demon could never rule the Lands, no matter parentage. They're seen as a weakness."

"If they're half-brothers, why is this Sesshomaru guy only considered an acquaintance?" Ikkaku asked this time.

"Oh, Sesshomaru and Inuyasha tried to kill each other a lot," the miko replied with a shrug. "What else do these legends say, Urahara?"

"Well they may be inaccurate," Urahara admitted, hiding his face behind his fan.

"I'll correct you if you say something that is false," Kagome giggled.

"Well," he sighed, "they also said that no matter where the group went, they either killed evil demons or made more friends. They also mentioned a special sword in the hands of the half-demon that could kill a hundred men in one swing."

"The Tetsusaiga," Kagome said. "It really can, but you have to master it. And no full demon can touch it because of its barrier, only those with human blood can. Humans can't wield it though because it requires one with demon's blood in their veins to wield the power, and that demon has to have the need to protect a human. Inuyasha's older brother was pretty upset that he couldn't wield Tetsusaiga without getting his hand burned."

Urahara hummed slightly. "Well the legends also mentioned another half-demon, this one evil and seeking the entire jewel to rule over everything," he continued. "He almost succeeded if the group did not eventually find a way to kill him. Once he was gone and the jewel was complete, the miko disappeared and was never seen again. Who would have thought in that time period that the miko was a time traveler?"

"What's so special about this jewel?" Ichigo asked. "Is it worth a lot or something?"

Kagome sighed and shook her head. "The Shikon no Tama is a very powerful jewel," she explained. "Men and demons sought it for their own selfishness. If a demon got a hold of the whole jewel or even a shard, their power increased ten fold. And the one with the jewel can make one wish and the jewel will grant it. The only way to destroy the jewel is to make a selfless wish, but there is no such thing."

"What if you wish to make all your friends happy?" Orihime suggested.

Kagome shook her head a couple times. "It would seem selfless when you say it out loud, but inside you are still being selfish," she said. "Their happiness keeps you happy. It would still be selfish deep inside."

"So there is no way to destroy it," Yumichika stated. "Are you going to protect it for the rest of your life?"

"And if you are, what about when you die?" Renji added. "Who will protect it then?"

Kagome brought a hand to her chest and held onto the clothing, the jewel under it. "When I die, my body must be burned with the jewel so that it will always be with me," Kagome replied. "That was how Kikyo did it. When she died, the jewel was burned with her and when she was reincarnated to me, the jewel was inside of my body. So when I am reincarnated, the jewel will be in the body of my reincarnation."

"You make it sound like it's that easy," Hitsugaya commented. "We should take it to the Seireitei where it can have its power contained and be kept safe."

"No!" Kagome snapped at him. "I am the guardian, I will keep it with me!"

"You can't live your life protecting this jewel and looking over your shoulder every day to keep it safe," Hitsugaya argued with her. "Especially when you have a child to look after, soon two children."

"I can handle myself, thank you very much," Kagome scoffed at him. "Anyway, I am gotta head back. It's late and I wanna sleep."

"You're going to ignore me until I apologize, aren't you?" Uryu asked his cousin. Kagome didn't answer.

"She's just gonna ignore you until she thinks you learned your lesson and when you apologize," Shippo told the annoyed Quincy as the kitsune cast his human illusion over himself.

Uryu sighed as he watched his cousin leave the shop. Shippo stayed behind her for a moment, then grabbed a bag of candy, ran over to Urahara, dropped some coins into his hand, and ran off after the miko. "I think he would make a frequent customer," Urahara joked, placing the coins into his coat pocket.

**12345678987654231**

The next day, Kagome accepted Uryu's apology of snapping at her, but she couldn't help but keep an eye on Ichigo. He seemed pretty upset with himself. Around lunch, she followed him out of the classroom and into the hallway. He went outside and stayed there, staring out into the open field used for sports.

Kagome leaned against the railing. The only sign that Ichigo knew she was there was a quick glance. "You know," she said. "I used to feel the same way you do right now."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Ichigo scoffed.

"You are either beating yourself up over not getting to Orihime on time or that you froze up fighting against the big Arrancar," she pointed out. "I know how Orihime feels, too. When I was traveling with the others, searching for the jewel shards, we always ran into huge demons. I wasn't very good at the bow and arrow yet and it was my only way to defend myself. Everyone else had different fighting styles or weapons on them that they had been using since they were young. I was depended upon to sense the shards and tell them where they were, but I depended on them to protect me because I didn't know what was going on. You guys depend on Orihime to heal you when you have a ton of damage, yet she depends on you to protect her.

"You know that is how she feels, even though she doesn't want to feel that way anymore. And you, I felt the same thing you feel as well. Whenever one of the others got hurt when I could have prevented anything from happening, I always beat myself up. When someone was hurt because of my stupidity, I was always so mad at myself.

"But let me tell you something that I was told by my baby's father. He said that it doesn't matter who got hurt, you can't let it eat you alive. It's a weakness and people will only pick at the weakness even more. If you act like you don't care about your friends' safety, they won't be targeted as often. That doesn't mean to push them away, but to act like there is a rift. Deceive anyone who wants to harm you. If you act like there is a rift between you and your friends, then your friends won't be hurt by the one who wants to hurt you.

"Of course, he was hit on the head after that by one of his own friends. Said that he wasn't making much sense and stop trying to confuse me. But I understood." She looked down at him. "You think Chad and Orihime being hurt is your fault because you couldn't protect them. It isn't. They knew what they were getting into when they chose to fight back there. None of it is your fault. And if you continue to hurt yourself about it, they will become the targets more often than you. They will be hurt so that whoever wants to hurt you breaks you first."

She pushed herself from the railing and started to walk off. "I'm sorry if I'm not making much sense, but that's the way things always were in the past," she said. "And if there is one thing history always shows us, it's that not much changes."

Ichigo watched her disappear back into the building then turned his gaze back into the field.

Not much happened during the rest of the day, but Kagome felt restless all the same. As usual, she picked Shippo up from school and took a walk around the area. It was comforting and she got to explore a little more with Shippo. When day turned to night and after Kagome was called by her uncle a couple times, the miko thought it would be a good idea to get back home before it got cold.

The streets were empty and quiet, not even a cricket chirping. Shippo was nervous about it, of course he was raised in the Feudal Era and in a forest. To him, silence meant something bad was coming since he was raised around noise. It was basic instinct to be aware when not even the wind made a sound.

"Mama, isn't that Chad?" Shippo asked, tugging on Kagome's hand.

She looked the direction Shippo was pointing to see Chad run outside with his black-armored arm. He glanced her way for a moment. "Kagome?" he called before someone was suddenly in front of him. It was a short man with something large and bandaged on his head dressed in white and floating in the air. He pulled back an arm and shot it towards Chad too fast for either to react.

There wasn't even a blur of black, but Ichigo was suddenly between the two and defended Chad. "You three get out of here," he told them.

"Ichigo, I'm healed enough," Chad started.

"And I don't doubt it," the substitute-Shinigami replied. "But Kagome doesn't have anything to defend herself with. Protect her."

"Kagome?" the short Arrancar repeated, tilting his large head. "Ah! That names sounds familiar!" He started to chuckle and looked over his shoulder to the miko. "I don't see what he finds so interesting about you. You're puny and weak."

"Call me what you want," Kagome told him. "I know the words you shoot at me are words that you just say to make yourself feel stronger."

The Arrancar narrowed his eyes at her. "Bitch," he spat. "I guess he doesn't need to know if I should kill you. And if he finds out, all I can say is that you got in the way of my attacks. He should believe that."

"Who are you talking about?" Kagome asked, pushing Shippo to stand behind her. Shippo cancelled his illusion, unknowingly sending out a small pulse of energy, and jumped onto Kagome's shoulder. When that pulse of energy reached a certain individual, the Arrancar made his way towards the location where the pulse came from.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" he chuckled, turning his attention to the other two teenagers. "I should get rid of you first." He moved to attack them, but had to jump back when slices of ice were shot towards him from the ground. The Arrancar glared towards the short Shinigami woman holding a white zanpakuto with a white ribbon attached to the hilt.

"Chad, you take Kagome and Shippo somewhere safe," Ichigo told his long-time friend.

Chad nodded to him and moved around the small fighting area Rukia and the Arrancar stood still in. He took the miko's arm gently and pulled her away from the fight. "We don't know what to expect," he said lowly. "You and Shippo at least need to get somewhere safe."

"In that case," someone laughed out before another Arrancar landed in front of Chad, making the giant teen skid to a stop not too far from Ichigo, Rukia, and their opponent. "I'll take them."

It didn't take a second for Kagome and Shippo to recognize him. The blue hair and blue eyes. The feral grin on his face, obviously preparing himself for a fight. He did have a hole in his stomach and a jaw on the side of his face, but there was no denying who it was. The Arrancar's blue eyes narrowed as he glanced over to see a tall pillar of ice before it shattered, his Fraccion inside of it.

"I probably would have ended up killing him anyway," he commented. "Thinking I can't hear whatever the hell he says. Now, are you gonna hand them over or do I need to kill you?"

"What do you want with Kagome and Shippo?" Ichigo yelled out. "Who are you?"

"What do I want with 'Gome and Shippo?" he chuckled, shaking his head. "The names Grimmjow Jaggarjaques, and I want her because she is my mate and the kit is my adopted cub."

"What are you talking about?" Rukia asked him, holding her zanpakuto in front of her.

Grimmjow laughed out again. "I mean she's my mate and he's my cub, how much clearer can I get? Or do you wanna fight? I'll just end up killing all of you and taking both Kagome and Shippo. Two birds, one stone. Good night in my book!" He raised an eyebrow. "Actually, you know what?" He was gone and in front of Ichigo in an instant. "I know you'll get in my way, so I might as well."

He gave a swift kick to Ichigo's side, throwing the teen into the sky before Grimmjow leapt into the air after him and punched him in the stomach, throwing Ichigo back into the street. The orange-haired Shinigami landed hard, creating a crater under him.

Grimmjow stayed in the air, looking towards Kagome and Shippo. His nose twitched and he tilted his head to the side a little bit. Something was different about his mate's scent. What was it, though? He dropped down to the ground in front of Chad again. "Either you move or I move you," he warned him. All the large teen did was try to punch him. Grimmjow smirked as he caught the hand coming towards him then raised his other arm and swatted Chad to the side and into Rukia.

He looked towards his mate and adopted cub before picking Kagome up (Shippo sitting on her stomach once Grimmjow had her in his arms) and leaping into the air, jumping from building top to building top. "How much do you know?" he asked her.

"Enough," Kagome replied.

"Figures," he chuckled. "You didn't seem surprised about the way I look."

"I was told about the Spirit World," she said. "About Shinigami and Hollows. And why did you attack them? They're my friends!"

"They were in the way and Arrancars are mostly Hollow," Grimmjow pointed out. "Shinigami are a Hollow's enemy. Either I attacked them or they attacked me. One way or the other, there would have been a fight." He finally stopped on top of a roof, deciding there was enough distance between them and the Shinigami, and set Kagome down after Shippo jumped into her arms. Grimmjow looked her up and down a little bit before smirking. "You haven't changed a bit."

"It's only been over a month for us," she admitted with a small blush.

He chuckled lightly, shaking his head. "I missed you," he stated. "I don't know why, but I guess you couldn't see me back then. I was there, watching you during every visit and when you left. Then 500 years go by and here you are again."

Kagome smiled at him and took his hand. "You seem so real," she commented. "I can touch you, feel your skin." She reached up and ran a hand through his hair. "And even your hair. If it wasn't for that hole and mask, it would be like you were still alive."

"In a way, I am still alive," he said with a shrug. "I'm just a soul right now, and pretty damn lucky one."

"Why do you say that?" Kagome asked.

Grimmjow sighed. "Most plus souls remember their lives before they died," he explained. "Actually, all of them can. I did. Ulquiorra did. Even Nnoitra, Szayel, Tesla, and Nel remembered their lives. Everyone did. But when one turns into a Hollow, most of the time, they lose their memories. Their first targets are the ones they cared for most when they were alive, but they do lose their memories. I was lucky, as were the others. Because we got to remember you and Shippo and each other. Personally, the thought of seeing you again is what kept me going. What kept me fighting to get stronger and stronger so I can regain a human form and see you again without you completely freaking out."

"You do look mostly human," Shippo said with a smile then jumped onto Grimmjow's shoulder. "Guess what?"

"What?" Grimmjow asked with a smirk.

"Ask Okaa-san," the kitsune whispered into the Arrancar's ear then jumped back onto Kagome's shoulder.

"Ask her what?" he exclaimed, raising his arms slightly. "'Gome, something I need to know?"

Kagome blushed before taking Grimmjow's hand again and placing it on her stomach. His head tilted to the side again as he blinked in confusion. "We're going to have a baby," she told him.

His eyes went wide, staring at her still flat stomach. "We've only mated once," he pointed out.

"Sometimes, once is all it takes," Kagome commented.

"Wow," Grimmjow chuckled with a smirk. "I mean, shit! I wasn't expecting this when I got you again! This is…whoa, this is unexpected." Seeing the slightly panicked look on his mate's face, he quickly reassured her. "It's not that I'm not happy about this cub, alright? I'm just surprised. I'm happy about it. I'm glad it's there."

Kagome smiled weakly at him. "Good," she said lowly before pressing her lips to his. Grimmjow kissed her back, deepening it. Shippo pretended to gag, jumping down to stand next to Kagome, before giggling under his breath. After a minute, they pulled apart and pressed their foreheads together. "What now?" she asked.

"Find some way to get you and Shippo to Hueco Mundo safely or I could try and get a gigai somewhere and stay here," Grimmjow replied with a small shrug.

"Gigai?" Kagome repeated.

"Fake body," he translated.

Kagome hummed gently. "Grimmjow?" The Arrancar let out a low hum of acknowledgement. "Are the others…"

Knowing what she was asking, Grimmjow nodded his head. "All of them," he answered. "Ulquiorra. Szayel. Nnoitra and Tesla. Stark and Lilinette. Even Nel."

"How?" she asked.

"Don't remember," Grimmjow said, shaking his head. "Probably better off that way."

"Who's Aizen?"

"An asshole who thinks he's God."

"Language," the miko scolded him.

"Why?" Grimmjow cheekily asked.

"Cheeky bastard," she joked, wrapping her arms around him.

He chuckled before the smirk on his lips fell to a frown and he spun around, keeping Kagome behind him. A zanpakuto was at his throat, held by a dark-skinned man with dreadlocks and a white visor over his eyes. "What the fuck are you doing here, Tousen?" Grimmjow growled at him.

"Why are you here, Grimmjow?" the man, Tousen, asked in return. "You were not given permission by Aizen-sama. You are responsible for the death of your entire Fraccion, five Arrancars. Aizen-sama will not be pleased."

"You sound like a fucking drone," Grimmjow commented, ignoring the blade at his neck. "So what? You gonna try and kill me here, in front of a woman and her kid? Both of them can see and hear us." The sword wasn't pressed as tightly against his neck now. "So what? Aizen-_sama_ send you here to get me?"

"You are to return to Las Noches," Tousen ordered. "Now. You have defied Aizen-sama and will receive your punishment there."

Grimmjow snorted, turning his head to look at his pregnant mate and adopted cub over his shoulder. "I'll go back," he sighed heavily at Tousen. "Just because I don't want you chasing me all over the place with your justice shit."

"Those two come as well," Tousen added.

A low growl escaped Grimmjow's throat. "What does Aizen want with them?" he asked, tensing up as the growl became a little louder.

"I am not aware of what he wants with them, but he said they are to come as well."

"Hell no," Grimmjow protested loudly. "I ain't letting them anywhere near Aizen and I'm not letting him near them!"

"Is that defiance, Grimmjow?" Tousen asked as he sheathed his zanpakuto.

"No shit," the Arrancar answered, baring his fangs. Aizen wanted _his_ mate, who was carrying _his_ cub, and _his_ adopted son. He didn't know why, and he wasn't going to risk anything. Especially considering how power-hungry Aizen was. If he found out Kagome had the Shikon no Tama, he would do everything in his power to take it from her, even hurt her. Well, Grimmjow wasn't going to let Aizen try anything like that.

"It was not a request, Grimmjow," Tousen told him harshly. "Either you bring her, or I take her in."

Grimmjow's growl grew in volume again. "One condition, both of them stay with me," he said.

"We shall see what Aizen-sama says," was all the dark-skinned man said before a rip opened in the air behind him.

The Arrancar turned to picked Kagome up, letting Shippo jump on his shoulder, before using Sonido to go through the darkness of the gargantuan. It eventually opened in the middle of the darkness surrounding them and they stepped into a bright room. Grimmjow placed Kagome down as soon as they entered the room. Tousen emerged from the gargantuan behind him.

Kagome looked around the room for a moment, seeing little of interest until her eyes landed on a select few. Ulquiorra was not too far away, surrounded by unfamiliar people and staring her way then to the other side of the room. She turned her head to the other side of the room to see Nnoitra wearing an eye-patch over his left eye talking to Szayel (who was wearing glasses now). Tesla was leaning against the wall behind Nnoitra. She couldn't see Nel anywhere. But she did see a young girl that looked a lot like Lilinette and assumed she was, though she only met the coyote pup once. There was a man standing next to her, or more like leaning against the wall and trying to fall asleep. She giggled slightly, guessing that was Starrk.

Grimmjow gently brushed his arm against hers, bringing her attention to him but noticed he wasn't looking at her, but more like glaring at something in front of him. She looked the direction he was glaring to see a man dressed in white with brown hair and a strand of his hair hanging over his brown eyes. Judging from the throne and superior pose he had, this must have been Aizen.

It was almost immediate that Aizen started questioning Grimmjow about what he was doing and then Tousen demanding Grimmjow was punished for insubordination. Grimmjow made a comment about Tousen just wanting any reason to kill him off before Tousen shot his way with zanpakuto unsheathed. Kagome saw the sword heading towards Grimmjow and, not knowing how she did it, a barrier erupted around them and stopped Tousen's attack.

"How very interesting," Aizen commented. "I apologize for my rudeness, young lady. What is your name?"

Grimmjow glared at him. "My name's Kagome," the miko introduced herself, much to her mate's annoyance. Apparently, he really did not like Aizen and did not want her in the same room as this man.

"Kagome," Aizen repeated. "You and Grimmjow seem to know each other quite well if he went to Karakura Town to get you and that child."

"We're old friends," she said, thinking it was probably a good idea to keep as much information from him as she could. Grimmjow seemed happy about that idea.

"Are you now?" Aizen chuckled. "Well since you're such good friends, how about you stay here in Las Noches? I'm sure he would appreciate it."

Kagome pretended to think about it for a moment. "Can I have a few minutes to talk with him about it?" she asked. "I don't wanna intrude on his personal space, after all."

Aizen nodded to her before Grimmjow grabbed Kagome's arm gently and led her away. "I would like you to be here," he told her. "But without Aizen knowing. You still have the Shikon, I know you do. If he finds out about it, he won't stop until he has it. Hell, he could kill you!"

"Just let me have a bow and some arrows and I can defend myself," she said. "Everyone here fights with swords, right?"

"His zanpakuto creates illusions," Grimmjow pointed out.

"Mama never falls for any kitsune illusions," Shippo pointed out. "And what could make an illusion more powerful than a kitsune's?"

"I'll be fine, Grimmjow," Kagome reassured her mate. "And if I can't, I promise I will stay near you or one of the others."

Grimmjow grumbled under his breath before scoffing. "Fine," he said. "But you stay away from him and if he comes near you, you get the hell away from him. I don't know what he'll try to pull and I don't want you to get hurt. I want all of you to be safe. You, Shippo, and the cub."

"And we will be," she told him lowly, placing a hand on his shoulder. He grabbed it with one of his hands and gave it a gentle squeeze. Kagome turned back around and approached Aizen, who was waiting patiently for her answer. "I know that no matter what I say, you will be keeping me here anyway. I have been in such situations before. I won't tolerate being treated like a prisoner. I'm allowed to wander where I want to and have no limitations to anything. I also don't tolerate anyone spying on me, so no guards you assign. Follow all that, and I'll behave and cooperate to an extent."

"I'm sure we can handle all that," Aizen chuckled.

'You may act high and mighty, but I've dealt with people like you before,' she wanted to warn him, but instead kept to herself. 'Acting like the kind man you are not to get others to trust you. You have an ulterior motive. I'm sure of it.'

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"Kagome!" someone cheered before Kagome turned around, only to have pink hair in her face and thin arms around her. "Shippo! It is so good to see you two again!"

"Off, Szayel," Grimmjow growled, pulling Szayel's arms off of Kagome before pushing the pink-haired Arrancar off. Kagome noticed the others were behind him, or at least the others she knew.

"It is good to see you again, Lady Kagome," Tesla greeted her as Nnoitra ruffled Shippo's hair.

"Good to see you guys, too," Kagome said with a soft smile. "I can't believe this. I leave you guys for 500 years and you go and get yourselves killed!"

"We're helpless without you," Nnoitra sarcastically commented with a roll of his eye.

"What happened to your eye?" the miko asked. Nnoitra smirked before lifting the eye patch to reveal his Hollow Hole with the broken mask around the edge of it. "Okay then… Please cover that back up."

"Well other than her temporarily trauma, thank you Nnoitra ("Welcome!"), it is good to have you back, Kagome!" Szayel exclaimed happily. "But what is this? Your scent is different."

"Indeed it is," Ulquiorra agreed.

"Szayel, you got enough medical experience, right?" Grimmjow asked, placing an arm around Kagome's shoulders after Shippo jumped onto Tesla's shoulder.

"Yes, why?" Szayel answered.

Grimmjow looked around for a moment to make sure there were no camera nearby. Since they were in the middle of the hallway, there were no corners to hide behind and no one else was in the hall. "Mama's gonna have a baby," Shippo whispered to Szayel, who went wide-eyed.

"It's Grimmjow's, right?" he asked, earning a smack on the head from the panther. "Kidding, of course it's yours. There is no other scent on her that says she has mated with anyone but you."

"Then why did you ask?" Ulquiorra asked, his voice making the question sound like he was talking to a five-year-old child.

"I… I don't know…"

"I never thought I would hear Szayel say that," Nnoitra commented.

"Anyway, I need to make sure you and that little one are doing well," Szayel started to list off as he took Kagome's hand, pretty much yanking her from her mate, and led her to his lab. Grimmjow, not really trusting to leave Szayel with his mate, went after him. The others followed out of amusement. "Make sure it is developing properly. You are eating right, yes? Also need to make sure that you can handle this pregnancy since it is a half-demon child."

"Everyone's been keeping an eye on me because I'm too young to have a baby," Kagome stated.

"Says who?" Szayel scoffed. "Many women your age got pregnant in the past. And from what I see, it's still common in this time. Humans just can't control their hormones and mate with whoever they wish. Oh, we also need to make sure your hormones aren't overly erratic or anything like that. Gotta keep you in top shape for this! Oh, I can't wait! Grimmjow, can I be the godfather?"

"No," Grimmjow told him blandly.

"So cruel," Szayel pouted. "But I bet you're excited! I mean, in just a few months, you're gonna be a daddy!"

"I'm only one month along, Szayel," Kagome pointed out with a smile.

"Five months then," the pink-haired Arrancar corrected himself with a wave of his free hand.

"Five months?" Kagome repeated in confusion.

"Well humans are pregnant for nine months, right? And demons are normally pregnant for three months. A half-demon is born after six months."

"Did not know that."

"Does it really matter?" Grimmjow commented. "Szayel, you need to chill the fuck out. And quiet down!"

"Make me," Szayel challenged with a grin.

Ulquiorra rolled his eyes. Nnoitra smirked as he took Kagome away from the pink-haired Arrancar. Tesla shook his head gently. Grimmjow grinned and lifted his hand before a bright, red sphere developed in his hand. Szayel went wide-eyed and started to run.

He was seen five minutes later with half his hair burned off and Grimmjow snickering every time he saw him.

"Good to know things haven't changed," Kagome commented when Grimmjow continued to snicker at the half-bald Szayel.

****

**That last part was kind of fun to write. Anyway, next chapter, we shall tune into Karakura Town and see how everyone is doing there and all that neat fun stuff. And I believe I already mentioned that I will be messing up the time-line, so don't bother me about it or how out of character everyone seems to be. There will also be a little bit of a background story thing next chapter concerning a few points. So plz review! ^^**


	12. Chapter 12

**Ok, so here is what we have for Kagome and Grimmjow's baby:**

_**Gender**_

I do not plan to make her have twins, or that would be an option.

**Boy – 9**

**Girl – 10**

_**Names**_

**Boy- Kei, Fenrir, Loki, Hyou, Kenichi, Sora, Haru**

**Girl- Kasumi, Yua, Akemi, Aiko, Aoi, Emi, Emiko (4), Miyuki, Takara, Atsuko, Chiyo, Bastet, Mana, Kokoro, Mao, Akira, Mitsuko, Moriko, Setsuna, Anjo, Hyouko**

**And here's what we have for Ulquiorra and Orihime pairing:**

**Yes- 10**

**No- 1**

**Yay, fun! Anyway, I am glad everyone likes the story and there will be some explanations as to the Espada's behavior of each other in this chapter, so chill out and b patient. And since Kagome didn't get to spend much time with Szayel in the past, she and Szayel get some bonding time in this chapter and she learns what happened to everyone after she left the past.**

**Now enjoy the chapter and please leave a nice review! ^^**

**Disclaimer: I only own Kagome's baby, no one from Inuyasha or Bleach. I'm just borrowing them for my own personal amusement.**

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Uryu was pissed. No, that was putting it mildly. His father made a deal with him to get his Quincy powers back, saying he would need them to protect Kagome and Shippo. Then when neither of them could find his cousin, he learns that Arrancars attacked last night and one ran off with both Kagome and Shippo. Yes, Uryu was royally pissed off and took it out on Ichigo, who felt bad enough about it as he was before Uryu started yelling at him.

Hitsugaya had already informed the Seireitei about the recent development and when he mentioned Uryu's cousin being the Shikon Guardian, it was a practically an order to get her back at all cost before Aizen got the jewel from her.

Ryuken made no argument about one exception from the deal, but it was only because Kagome was involved. After she was retrieved, Uryu was to never work with Shinigami again.

The only problem was how to get to Hueco Mundo.

**12345678987654321**

"So why is this entire place in a huge dome the size of a city?" Kagome asked. "And if it's supposed to be nighttime all the time, why did he build a sun in here?"

"Not many understand what Aizen-sama was thinking," Szayel sighed with a shake of his head.

The others were on missions to find Vasto Lordes for Aizen's army, but since Szayel wasn't a true field-worker, he stayed and kept Kagome company. Shippo was kidnapped by Lilinette and Wonderweiss, which meant he was probably close to Tousen since Wonderweiss was always around him.

And like every other resident within Las Noches, Kagome now wore pure white clothing. The outfit almost reminded her of miko robes, baggy white hakamas and a loose white haori with black trimming, but the haori was tighter around her torso, exposed her stomach, and the sleeves only reached her elbows. The hakamas were mostly similar to any other, but had a black stripe down the side and another around her knees. She also tied her hair up in a low ponytail and draped it over her left shoulder, but left her bangs loose.

"He shouldn't have done that," the miko commented. "Seriously? Things are the way they are for a reason. Not many know that reason, but still. If it's supposed to be dark and nighttime around here, it should stay that way."

"Many would agree, especially Aaroniero," Szayel agreed.

"Who?" Kagome asked.

"Aaroniero," the pink-haired Espada explained. "He's one of the original Espada, before the rest of us came along. His ability is what kept him in the Espada. He eats his own opponents and gains their abilities, memories, and sometimes their forms. Not only that, he can change his form, but it only works in the dark. He can't change his forms in the sunlight."

"Wow," Kagome said in awe. "So I noticed something…"

"You've noticed why we all act like we hate each other or can't stand each other, am I right?" Szayel chuckled lightly. "It's actually very easy to understand once explained. We were all best friends, practically siblings, when we were alive. I'm sure you noticed that."

"Yeah."

"Well, we can't act like that now," Szayel continued in a whisper, leaning over to her. "Tousen or Gin is always watching the cameras around this place. We act like we hate each other to protect each other. Remember what Grimmjow told you before? Act like there is a rift between you and your friends so that your friends are not targeted to get to you."

"Alright," Kagome replied with a nod of her head. "Um…Grimmjow said everyone was here, but I haven't seen Nel."

Szayel swallowed loudly at the mentioned Arrancar. "Nnoitra hasn't really changed much towards her, but he had to act fiercer to Nel," he stated. "It wouldn't cause suspicion in the case of us having to do something to protect her. You know how she gets sometimes. We hoped nothing would happen, but it did. She was always wondering around and getting into trouble, ever since she was a child in the past. Nel accidentally found something she wasn't supposed to find, something no one was ever supposed to know about, and we had to protect her. Aizen will kill the Espada if he wants to, and he won't hesitate.

"I had to explain to her Fraccion about what happened and they had to play along, but in order to do that, I had to remove their masks. As I said, there are cameras all over, but whether they record sounds, I don't know. I don't believe they do. Somehow, Nel was able to hear this conversation in an area where there were no cameras. Anyway, Nnoitra and I had to get her out of here and away from the threat.

"Nnoitra broke her mask, she turned into a small child, lost her memories, and we tossed her out into Hueco Mundo. Her Fraccion can remember everything and are out there with her to protect her. But Nel is basically a child now and doesn't have any memories of being an Espada or anything like that. She knows who we are, but nothing other than that."

"So she's out there?" Kagome asked in bewilderment. "Can her Fraccion really protect her?"

Szayel chuckled with a shake of his head. "They're insolent fools, but would protect Neliel to the death. They are so loyal to her. You really wouldn't know them from the past since she met them about twenty years after you left."

"And how has everyone else been adjusting?" she asked.

"Well enough," Szayel commented with a shrug. "Nnoitra and Grimmjow have regular fights. Ulquiorra keeps everything and everyone in line. Starrk sleeps all day until Lilinette wakes him up. I met up with my brother again and even have my own lab. And last time I check, Nel was playing 'Eternal Tag' with her Fraccion. Don't ask…"

Kagome let out a low hum. "Did you ever manage to avenge her?"

Szayel looked at her with wide eyes, knowing what she was talking about now. "How did you know about that?" he asked.

"Grimmjow told me when we went to visit you and Kagura," Kagome replied with a shrug. "By the way, whatever happened to her?"

The Espada sighed as his eyes slid close blissfully. "She and I had a couple of younglings," he admitted. "I healed her up and practically kept her on my mountain because I wanted to make sure she was properly healed after Naraku was killed. Well at first, it was a small friendship. Then the more time we spent around each other, we starting finding things in common, such as likes and dislikes or other such nonsense. Funny how a relationship could start off with me torturing her, though we tried real hard to forget about that. About ten years after you left, Kagura agreed to be my mate and five years after that, she had our first child. A small boy with my eyes yet her hair. He seemed to also have her free spirit. You can never trap the wind, you know. Our second was a girl that looked a lot like me, only she had her mother's beautiful eyes."

Another sigh escaped him. "I did kill that dragon youkai that murdered my mother, but the dragon thought to take one more thing from me. And it did. It took Kagura. I raised those two younglings since Sakura was seven and Haru was nine. I did tell her to stay away, to keep the children safe. I haven't seen her in Hueco Mundo, so either she is in Seireitei or she's been reincarnated. I hope the latter. I would hate to consider her an enemy because she went to Seireitei."

Kagome was silent for a moment. "Did anyone else have kids or mates?" she asked.

Szayel's eyes opened as he tilted his head back. "Well that's actually what got Nnoitra killed shortly after Tesla died," he commented. "Everyone here tries to forget how they died, but I remember nearly everything. I was actually the last to die, so I was able to keep an eye on everything, just not control it. He was the strongest mantis anywhere, but after Tesla died, he…changed. He was more furious, blood-thirsty. Dangerous. He definitely drew in the attention of many female mantises and he figured that he was probably going to end up dead, but he might as well continue his line. Of course, when mantises mate, the females devour the male. So you can guess how he died. Last I saw the female he mated with, strong enough to have a human form, she had a little boy that looked an awful lot like Nnoitra with her.

"Let me think…well Starrk had no mate and Lilinette was his adopted cub. I can't remember how they died…hmm. Anyway, Ulquiorra had no mate and no children. He got sick and no one could find a cure. Nel had a suitor, but he eventually shown his true colors and no one let him near her. Suitor was angry that he couldn't have her. Nel and her Fraccion died at the same time. Her suitor killed those two guys and then she fought the demon in anger and he ended up killing her.

"Your friends Sango and Miroku had a miraculous wedding and before they passed of old age, I wanna say that had three sons and two daughters. I may be wrong on the number. But they named one of their daughters after you. Kohaku married Lord Sesshomaru's ward, Rin, when both were old enough, and they had three children. Kouga and his mate Ayame had ten children, which really isn't a surprise. Wolf demons are known to have many children.

"Inuyasha…hmm…I believe he met another half-demon name Keeda. She was half-shadow dog and they just had so much in common. Blessing from family and friends and they got married and had four children. All of your friends died of old age."

"It's kind of sad about the others," she commented.

"They all forgot how they died, other than Grimmjow," Szayel reassured. "Actually, for all of us, most of the memories of our lives are of you. True we remember bits and pieces of other things, but when we became Hollows, we remembered each other and you. This in itself is strange."

"Why?" Kagome asked.

"Because when one changes into a Hollow-"

"They go after their loved ones," Kagome finished. "Grimmjow told me that."

"Yes. But some Hollows don't remember much of their lives," Szayel continued to explained. "The longer we are Hollows, the more we forget. But when we turned into Hollows, as soon as we saw each other in the Menos Forest, we didn't get that urge to devour each other, which is how Hollows evolve. Hollows eat each other until they are so strong that they turn into Menos Grande. But we didn't eat each other. We kept to our own little places until we eventually evolved enough to arrive here, on the top, then continued eating other Hollows so our power could grow. Most of us were Adjuchas when Aizen found us and turned us into Arrancars. I believe Ulquiorra was a Vasto Lordes, as well as Starrk. The rest of us, Adjuchas."

"So you're all still just as strong as you were when you were alive," Kagome commented.

Szayel laughed gently. "I suppose so," he replied. "The level of our strength is practically the same. Starrk is still the strongest, Ulquiorra is still stronger than Nnoitra, who is stronger than Grimmjow, who in turn is still much stronger than me."

The miko sighed silently. "How long did you have with your children?" she asked.

"I lived long enough to see them grow," Szayel replied. "I lived long enough to see my first grandchild." He chuckled. "I suppose I always was the more careful one. All the others are always so reckless. I tried to keep everyone together when they died, buried them in the same field where we buried Grimmjow." He sighed heavily. "It doesn't matter though! The past is the past and we lived through as much as we could. The important thing is that we're all together again. And you, you're back with us as well."

"I wasn't ever really a part of you guys," Kagome said in surprise.

"Nonsense!" Szayel chuckled. "We told you when you left all those years ago. You're one of us. And you always will be! I mean, sure. Before you came along, we were just friends. Comrades. Living our own lives day by day. But then you came along and stole Grimmjow's heart. Even before you two were mates, we felt like you just belong in our little scattered gang. And I have to admit, even though we didn't know you for even a year, you were a bright ray of sunshine in our dark lives!"

"If you're trying to be poetic, I'm not hearing it," Kagome joked with a small smile.

Szayel pretended to pout.

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"Come on, Shippo!" a young girl with lime green hair and bright lavender eyes called out as she ran down the hallway, followed by a blonde boy with purple eyes, then Shippo after him. "Hurry up!"

"I'm hurrying, Lilinette!" Shippo called after her. Just like Kagome, he, too, wore newer clothing, similar to his original outfit from the Feudal Era, only it was pure white with black trimming. He didn't like all the white completely surrounding him. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see!" Lilinette answered as she turned a corner.

Shippo grumbled under his breath before skidding to a stop when Lilinette and Wonderweiss crashed into someone that came out of their room.

"Watch it!" the person snapped.

Shippo stared up at one of the most scantily dress females he ever saw. Her shirt only covered her breasts and neck and very little of her sides while covering her entire back. Her skirt was even shorter than Kagome's old school skirt and she wore long leg stockings that almost reached the skirt. Her hair was tied up into two long pigtails and there was a small piece of Hollow mask covering her left eye.

There was another girl behind her, this one with more clothing covering her body. The only exposed skin on the short-haired blonde Arrancar female was just a bit above her hips and from between her breast (exposing half of each) to her neck. Her mask fragment was on her right eye.

"Well how are we supposed to know you're coming out of the damn room!" Lilinette yelled at the black-haired girl. "Don't be a damn bitch about it!"

"What did you call me?!" the girl yelled back.

"I didn't call you anything, I'm just saying you're acting like a damn bitch!"

"Who are they?" Shippo asked, looking at Wonderweiss.

"Uahh…" was all Wonderweiss said, making Shippo sweatdrop. Wonderweiss was sometimes fun to be around, but he should have realized by now that asking Wonderweiss anything was a waste of time.

"What the hell are you doing with that thing?" the black-haired Arrancar asked, looking over Lilinette's shoulder to stare at Shippo.

"He isn't a thing, his name is Shippo!" Lilinette defended, clenching her hands into fists. "Didn't your precious _Aizen_-_sama_ tell you to treat the guests with respect? Or were you just too preoccupied imagining yourself riding his dick that you just didn't hear him, ya whore."

"How dare you!" the female shrieked, making Shippo cover his ears. He had no clue that females could reach that octave.

"Oh, shut up, you tramp," Lilinette scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Everyone knows how _dedicated_ to Aizen-sama you are."

"If anyone here is the tramp, it's you!"

"Is there something wrong?" a monotone voice asked, making the two arguing girl stiffen and turn to see Ulquiorra coming their way, hands in his pockets.

"Loly was disrespecting Shippo!" Lilinette quickly said.

"I see," Ulquiorra said, looking towards Loly. "Loly, do keep in mind that Kagome and Shippo are Aizen-sama's guests and you shall treat them as such."

"Yes, sir," Loly answered, lowering her head.

"You must be a pretty intimidating person here to make the screaming girl so submissive," Shippo commented. "What did you do?"

"It is a matter of fear, not intimidation," Ulquiorra told him as he walked by the kitsune. "Come."

"Same thing," Shippo said, running after him. "Where were you all day?"

"On a mission," Ulquiorra answered. "Shippo, I am sure no one minds you playing with Lilinette or Wonderweiss. But I believe it would be wise to stay away from Menoly and Loly."

"I figured," Shippo scoffed, jumping onto pale Arrancar's shoulder. "She's noisy."

"She can also be very rash," Ulquiorra pointed out. "Avoid them both."

"Okay," the young kitsune said.

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"And what happened to you?" Kagome asked with a smirk when Grimmjow entered the room.

"Fought with a some guy," he answered. "You weren't too bored while I was away, were you?"

"Nah," Kagome answered, sitting on the bed. "I talked with Szayel. He told me a few things." Grimmjow grunted, lying behind her. "Want me to do something about those injuries of yours?"

"No," Grimmjow answered, shaking his head. "I'm fine. Minor injuries. They'll heal quick." He chuckled lightly. "I may be an Arrancar, but I still heal like a demon."

"Well that's a plus from being a demon before, I guess," she giggled, running a hand through Grimmjow's hair.

"How ya feeling?" he asked, his half-lidded eyes lazily staring into her own. Having his hair petted like that felt nice…

"I'm fine, stop worrying," she told him. "I mostly stayed with Szayel today since he had nothing to do and all of you guys are paranoid. Lillinette and Wonderweiss took Shippo to play for a while."

"You know we're paranoid for a good reason, right?" Grimmjow stated, resisting the urge to purr. "None of us wants Aizen near you, or even have a chance to."

"I know," she said, noticing how much he was liking his hair petted. She stopped for a moment then laid on the bed with him spooning her. "Why do all of you follow him? He's no better than Naraku."

Grimmjow sighed with a shrug. "He seems to think that we should follow every word he says because he gave us more power and helped us evolve from Hollows to Arrancar," he explained best he could. "Used our natural hate for Shinigami to get us to fight against them in some war that's gonna happen soon. He keeps us in line by also making us fear him. His spiritual pressure alone can make us feel like we're suffocating or paralyzed. We also can't get away. He would send others to track us down and kill us. Most likely Gin or Tousen."

"What if everyone fights against him instead of just one?" Kagome asked, looking at him over her shoulder.

"We thought he would go away if we just played his game for a while," he answered. "Never had a reason to do otherwise. Though now, if he oversteps our boundaries, we will."

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E**nd of chapter, hope everyone liked it. You guys can make whatever conclusions you want out of that last part, but I hope you liked the chapter! ^^**


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